Wasting Time
by Thoughtless4u
Summary: The Crime Scene Investigators are on their own when they find out Mac needs their help... Will they save him in time? MS & DL, don't judge the short first chapters, it'll get better and better!
1. Chapter One: Ending & Beginning

**Wasting Time**

Chapter One: Ending & Beginning

It was a tough day yesterday. It had been a very busy day for all of us. There were two very important calls within the same ten minutes that morning. The first call was about a male victim at the entrance of Central Park, he was stabbed in his chest at least a dozen times and as it was not enough, the man also received a gunshot through the head. A nasty one.. he had put Danny and Lindsay on that one. He had sensed some passionate tension between those two, so he decided to put them on the same cases more often. Hopefully it helped them both to figure out what they wanted with each other. Well, he actually didn't want them to date 'cause then he would have to deal with a lot less trouble, but he felt that he at least had to give them a chance. He knew from his own experience that love at first sight isn't always true love. First a bond must grow with one another, a bond that would grow stronger and stronger trough time and when the time was right.. whatever, he was just talking nonsense to himself.

To continue his thoughts where he left of, he found himself thinking about the second case from yesterday morning. A woman had heard several gunshots in her building and saw two men running away a couple of doors ahead of hers. She called the police, she was too scared to go in the room by herself. Stella, Hawkes and he had found nothing but blood and 4 casings in that particular room. After lots of hours and a lot of clues and evidence they had found the man with four holes in his body but luckily he was still alive. With his statement we found the attackers soon. Case closed and even with a happy ending. Especially Stella was very relieved to see the man still alive. She was hoping for it the entire time we worked on the case.

Dan and Linds found their killer after a couple of hours and weren't that unhappy with the result. They both did a great job just like he expected. They all are fantastic in doing their jobs. Maybe I should try to get some sleep now. I'm sure the cases of tomorrow will be as hard as today. And no man can think straight without at least a couple hours of sleep…

Mac turned around in his bed to look at his alarm clock… 3:11 am, alarm set at 5:30 am. At the thought of those two short hours of sleep he pulled up his sheets a little closer and made himself comfortable in his bed.

BEEEP! Mac groaned at the sound and hit the alarm hard with his hand. Finally he had some sleep in comparison to the last few days, even if it was only for 2 hours. He stood up, took a quick shower and dressed himself in his usual outfit, but without the jacket, while coffee was made. Before getting on his coat, he slurped some coffee and got to his car. Just before he started the engine of his SUV, his phone beeped.

'Taylor', he said.

'He Mac, it's Stel, did you get some sleep?', Stella asked with her usual happy voice. It made him smile, as always.

'If you put emphasis on 'some', yeah, I did', he said, smiling. He heard Stella laughing on the other side.

'That's good I suppose. If you're already on your way to the lab, you can turn around. We have a homicide on Beekman Street. Flack said it's a bloody mess over there'.

'I'm in the car, still next to my apartment, in fact. See you over there'. Mac hung up the phone and this time started the engine.


	2. Chapter Two: In The Dark

**Chapter 2 of my first fic here. Hopefully you like it, please read and review.**

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**Chapter Two: In The Dark

Flack hadn't exaggerated: blood was, indeed, everywhere. A woman was lying face down in the middle of a small room, seemingly the living room. Mac had to look down with every step he took to not disturb the crime scene. He took a long look around and then walked to the body with Stella kneeling next to it and Flack standing, looking down from a distance, trying to look away from the body as much as possible. He definitely likes catching the bad guys more than watching dead bodies.

'What've we got, Flack?', Mac asked to the young detective in his severe voice.

'Trisha Jefferson, 20 years old, stabbed multiple times and one gunshot in the back of her head. She lives here alone.'

'Anyone in the building heard or seen anything?'

'We were planning to ask them now. Thought I wait for you first though. I will try to contact her family too, if she has any.' With those words, Flack left.

Mac kneeled down at the opposite side of the body to where Stella was. 'She's still a girl, Mac. What could possibly be the reason for killing her?', she said with a concerned look on her face.

'I have no idea, but someone did have a reason. For us to find out the killer and ask him.' Mac saw the look on Stella's face. It was getting tougher for her every day, all those victims who had suffer so much before they died. But this definitely wasn't the time for a conversation about that. There was too much work to do. He would talk to her later.

After Mac took several pictures of the girls back, Stella swabbed the gunshot wound which had traces of GSR on it. They turned the girl on her back. She had more than 12 stabs all over her body, most of them in her stomach. Her jeans were torn apart near the button. Looked like Sid needed to do a rape kit. While processing, they heard Lindsay entering the room. She looked around in amazement, fear and anger. On every wall, on every inch on the floor there was blood. The whole apartment seemed to be painted red recently.

'I'll take the bathroom and bedroom', she said. Without even looking to Mac and Stella, she hurried to the other rooms. The older pair looked to each other with a questioning look. At that moment Flack returned from his tour.

'Several neighbors told me she has a kid, a boy with a age of around 6, nobody knows who the father is. Last they had seen a couple of guys knocking on her door. Trisha didn't let them in. They couldn't tell much more, only that she wasn't the social type. I'll go and try to contact her family now. See you guys later.' And with that, Flack was gone for the second time.

Mac, Stella and Lindsay went searching for the boy and indeed found him, hidden underneath the sink, shaking, too afraid of coming out. To the surprise of both ladies, the boy calmed down when Mac began to speak to him.

'Hey, I'm Mac and those two are Stella and Lindsay. We are with the police. You don't have to be afraid anymore. You can come out, we will protect you.'

The kid took the strong hand Mac was offering him. The boy seemed to be free of wounds and blood on first sight. Still, Mac took him by the hand and led him to his car, avoiding the sight of the kid's mother. He put the kid in the front seat next to him. After giving Stella and Lindsay some last instructions, he drove of to the hospital to let the boy to be checked and ask him some questions.


	3. Chapter Three: Nick

**Thanks for the reviews so far! Made me very happy! So, here's chapter three. Have fun! Next chapters will be longer probably.**

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Chapter Three: Nick

While the doctors were busy examining the boy, Mac had called Jane Parsons to get the boys DNA and other things. When she entered the hallway where Mac was standing, she immediately saw the worried look on his face. He looked more confused than usual, but she didn't ask him questions. She knew already what he wanted from her and went in to the room where the doctors were just finished with the cute little boy. Also Mac came and one of the doctors told them the kid had no physical wounds but he had shown very traumatized mentally. After that, the doctors left and Jane did the same when she finished up swabbing the kid. Mac sat down next to the kid, not knowing where to start. Luckily, the boy started talking himself.

'My mummy is dead, isn't she? I saw her lying on the floor and tried to wake her up, but she didn't. I was so scared I ran and hide. I killed her, didn't I? It's all my fault, I should've helped her', the kid mumbled. He started crying and buried his head into Mac's chest.

'No, it is not your fault, kiddo. You didn't hurt her, you were just trying to help her. It's okay, I will look after you, you don't have to worry anymore now', Mac spoke fatherly and with his most kindly voice. 'What is your name, son?'

'Nick. My name is Nick. My mums name is Trisha, but I don't know who my daddy is. I've never seen him. I don't know if I have more family. Mummy always said its better that way. I miss her already, mister Mac', Nick sobbed.

Mac felt so sorry for the kid. Nick had no where to go and the only one who loved him, was murdered in cold blood, right in front of him. No wonder the doctors thought he was traumatized. While holding him tightly, Mac called Flack.

'Hey Flack, it's Mac. The boys name is Nick, it's her son. He has no physical problems, but he is very traumatized and has no information that will help us further now. Did you already find a family member so maybe he can go there?'

It was quiet on the other end of the line for a short time, before Flack answered. 'I couldn't track down his father what doesn't surprise me though. The woman would have been only 14 years old when she had him, so she must have been raped or so. Couldn't found any family of her either. So I guess he's an orphan now. Should I call Child Services?'

'No, not yet. I want him to calm down a bit first, he is very shocked right now. I'll get back to the lab now, he can eat and drink some there. Maybe he will remember something in the mean time. I'll let you know.'

'Alright then, I will tell the others. Hey and Mac…' Flack waited for a response from his boss first before continue his sentence.

'Yeah, Flack?'.

'… He maybe lost his only family, but he is very lucky he's with you now. You know how to convince people to fight for what's left. He really is lucky.'

Mac smiled at the comment of the young detective. He also felt the double meaning in it.

'Thank you, Don. I'll see you in a while.'

He hung up and looked down at the kid again. Was Flack right, is this boy really lucky to have him in his life now, at least for this difficult time? Mac quickly brought his mind back to reality.

'Nick, are you ready for a little ride? I want to show you my friends.' he said.

'Yeah, that's okay. And I'm a little hungry.' Nick looked already a bit happier now and seemed to forget the most awful things he witnessed today, for the moment at least.

'When we are there, I'll get you a nice meal', said Mac while picking Nick up and walking out of the hospital.

After 30 minutes of driving, he saw lots of cars standing still in a distance. When he got closer, he saw that there was an accident on the crossroad. Some tried to get through all the vehicles somehow, others were standing out of the car yelling at someone else like it was their fault. Everything was blocked. Mac stopped and sighed. He looked aside; Nick was sleeping while holding Mac's sleeve. He gently cut himself loose out of Nick's grip and wanted to get out of his car, looking for a way through.

Right before he opened his car door, he felt two strong arms around his neck, one hand covering his mouth with some sort of towel. He tried to fight his way out of the grip of these unknown arms, trying all his Marine skills, but he failed miserably. The air he breathed wasn't filled with normal air anymore, but with some sort of gas. He felt his head become lighter and his strength weakened.

And then... everything became black.

The strong arms pulled Mac to the trunk of the SUV and tied up Mac's arms and legs and covered his mouth with the towel. Another stranger climbed behind the steering wheel and drove away from the crowd, from all the people, and headed to his destination…


	4. Chapter Four: No Way

**Chapter Four. I really hope some enjoy reading this story. No idea how long it will be though. I probably found my passion: writing :D. Read and review please!**

Chapter Four: No Way…

They had finished up almost completely now. Stella and Lindsay worked for over 5 hours straight. With all the blood, everything could be evidence. So they bagged … everything. Both very relieved they were done, they put off their gloves and were ready to go.

In the car the girls talked about a lot of things, but both avoided the topic 'men'. Stella knew Lindsay has a crush on Danny and he definitely likes her too and she wanted to ask so many questions and maybe give her a hint or two. But she knew Lindsay would ask questions too, about her and Mac and that was the last thing she wanted right now. Her feelings for him were getting stronger every day but still she doesn't have the guts to tell him so she maybe loses his friendship. So she didn't ask Lindsay. Funnily, Lindsay thought the same things and so she also didn't say anything concerning 'men'. They talked about shopping, going out, hobbies, the past and so on.

At the lab, Hawkes en Danny helped them getting all the evidence out of the car and in the lab. Both men didn't have anything better to do so they also helped processing it. Danny and Lindsay were processing all the blood the women collected at the scene, Hawkes and Stella the clothes of the girl and some other evidence, when Flack came in. He didn't say anything at first what made 8 eyes staring at him.

Then he said, trying to hide his worried face: 'Wow, all on the same case, that has been a while ago. Anyway, have any of you seen Mac?'

'Only this morning, he found the kid and took him to the hospital to be looked at', Stella said. 'Why?'

'Oh, you see, he called me about 3 or even 4 hours ago from the hospital. He said he would come to the lab again with the kid, but haven't heard of him since.'

'Did you call him? Maybe he grabbed some food on the way in for the kid. You know Mac changes when he is around a kid.' Danny said while pushing his glasses closer to his eyes. Everybody knew he was talking about Sam, the kid of a case a while ago.

'Yeah I did, but he doesn't pick up his phone. He was planning to get food for the kid at the lab, so that's probably not it. Maybe you are right and there is an explanation. Just thought I let you know.' Flack said. The words from Danny didn't sound convincing enough for him though. Hawkes seemed to know that.

'You called the hospital? Maybe he is still there.' Sheldon said, knowing Flack already done that, but just wanted to make sure. Flack indeed, nodded.

'He'll be fine, he was a Marine after all. If he is in trouble, he will get out of it.' Said Lindsay, throwing her thoughts in the group too.

Everybody nodded in agreement. 'Well, I'll leave you all to your work then. I'm going home, my shift is over. You'll let me know if you hear anything from him.' Flack turned around and left. He left out a big sigh when nobody could hear him anymore. Mac, were are you, I'm not feeling good about this, he thought.

All four CSI's got back to your work, all with their own thoughts. Stella, Danny, Sheldon, Lindsay… all of them had a special and all a very different band with their boss. For Stella, Mac was her best friend and probably even more. Mac had given Danny the opportunity to let him see what he was worth: he had taken him in the team. Danny would never forget that but most of all, Mac was one of his closest friends and the man he trusted most. For Sheldon, Mac gave him the chance to get out of the morgue and into the field and give him his current best friends. He was the best boss someone can wish for. Lindsay was already fond of him from the first second she met him. A very good leader, he made sure she felt comfortable right away, never felt like she was the newbie. Mac is a very private man, but is always there to help you with whatever problem you have. Very strong, good at his job. The thought of him away made her shiver.

With every hour they heard nothing from Mac, they got more suspicious and worried. After 3 hours, Stella broke the silence.

'It doesn't feel right, why isn't he here yet or at least called someone? There must be a reason and I'm not sure if it is a good reason.' Everyone felt the tension of her words.

'I call Flack, maybe he heard something in the time between.' Danny said, taking off his lab coat and getting his phone out of his pocket. Then he saw he had a message: a new voicemail message. He dialed his voicemail and listened.

'Danny, it's Mac. Sorry for my late call. I took the kid to McDonalds and after that he was so exhausted, I took him home with me. I'll take some time off to look after him. You lead the case now and Stella will do the rest. Don't call me back okay, I have to figure this out. I'll call you. Bye'

Very strange. Why didn't he heard his phone? Why would Mac call him, while he has nothing to do with the case, at least as far as he knows. What does he have to figure out? What in the hell was going on?

Danny thought all of this only seconds after he ended the call. Something wasn't right.

'That was a voicemail from Mac. He said he took the kid home with him and want some time off to figure things out or something like that. He doesn't want to be called back and said that really sincere. I'll lead the case and Stella the other things.' The young detective told the others who were watching him carefully.

'That's odd. Did he sound differently to you?' His almost girlfriend asked him.

'No, I don't think so, only the content of the message was weird and so.. sudden. Something bothering him lately that you know?' He answered. All shook their heads.

'Do you believe him? Should we follow his orders and see what will become of it?' Stella said, who was just as surprised and confused as all the others.

'Well, yeah, I think so. If we don't, you all know what he is capable of. I'll call him tomorrow and if he doesn't respond then… I'll go by and see what's going on.' Danny said.

'Alright then, let's just go home then. We all had a rough, long day and we all need some sleep. Let's just think the best of it guys.' The dark CSI said who kept quiet till now. 'Danny, you call Flack?'

'Yeah sure.. you can all go home, I'll go too. See ya tomorrow.' Danny walked out of the room towards the elevator, leaving everybody behind.

On his way home, a creepy feeling was getting over him. Was it really Mac he heard on the phone? Did he really sound like there was nothing going on, just like he convinced his colleagues minutes ago? Something of this whole situation was smelling really nasty. Tomorrow he will find out. Tomorrow… But first… sleep.


	5. Chapter Five: Back

**I'm back again. Chapter Five. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review a little bit more, so I know if I should continue with this :) Thanks!**

**Fruitbat: Thanks for the offer! I will definitely let you know if I'm not sure of something:)**

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_Chapter Five: ... Back_

_The alarm clock._

_A phone call. _

_A woman, or a girl, or something in between. _

_The subway… my car, an accident, black… The kid. _

_Nick._

Mac lay down with his face on the ground. He didn't know exactly where he was, so he didn't move.

_First scan the place_.

He tried to open his eyes one by one. Dizziness overwhelmed him.

_The towel. Chloroform._

He remembered again. The hands which tried to anaesthetize him and, so it seems, succeeded in that. He tried to look around without moving which was a difficult task. One light flickered on and off. Nearby in front him of was a wall, just like on the left side of him. He moved his hands and feet a little to feel if there were bounded. With his first tiny move, he heard some noises behind him.

He tried to freeze again, not moving a muscle, but it was too late. Footsteps were shaking the ground he was lying on. Before he could even move again, he felt a big hand surrounding his skull, pulling him up with ease and throwing him with his back to the wall. A chain on his neck clattered.

'Ai, the hansom detective is awake', a ski mask said while he was kneeling down on Mac's level. The smell out of the mouth of this ski mask made Mac retch. The man who was behind it became furious when he saw Mac's face and was an inch away from knocking Mac down, when another voice made his entry.

'Leave it, Flower. Don't you dare hitting him before I said so.'

_Flower?!_ Mac felt like he was end up in some sort of nightmare.

With the voice came another man, smaller than the first one, also with a ski mask over his head. Mac felt his dizziness become stronger and he tried to keep his eyes open. The man who was called Flower, made way to let the other one pass and mumbled something like 'Okay, boss'.

'So, how are you doing, detective?', the 'boss' said. Mac didn't feel the urge to speak and he wasn't all that sure only words would come out of his mouth. The 'boss' looked like he wasn't happy with Mac's decision.

'You're gonna talk now, buddy.' Mac felt a gun pressed against his temple. The 'boss' held up a note.

'Call one of your team and speak this into his voicemail. No real talking. If you don't, I'll shot you. Or should I shoot him?' He pointed at Nick, who appeared in the doorway with another guy, a gun pointing at the little boy.' Mac heard the kid calling his name. He tried to force a smile for the kid, but it didn't worked out as it should. Mac looked back at the man standing in front him, who pushed Mac's cell into his face. Mac knew what he had to do to save Nick for now.

'Danny, call Danny.' The 'boss' did as he was told and hold the mobile near Mac's ear, the latter not possible to use his hands because they were tied up. Mac read the text out loud, trying to bring it a little different so hopefully Danny would notice. When the 'boss' hung up, Mac turned his eyes back to the doorway, but Nick was already gone with the other man. His anger grew inside him and he said, looking up: 'Let the kid go.'

The 'boss' kneeled down, apparently pissed off. 'You won't need your voice anymore now, detective, and I didn't give you permission to speak again.' With those words, the fist of the boss hit Mac's larynx hard, right above the chain, but not with full strength. Mac stopped breathing for almost a minute, feeling everything collapse inside his throat. Finally, he caught little pieces of air again. The 'boss' knew exactly where to hit him so Mac couldn't speak a word anymore. The larynx was probably severely bruised, but not broken. In the meantime, the 'boss' and Flower were watching Mac, fully enjoying their sight. When the detective was near to normal again, the boss spoke again.

'Did you like it? The pain? I can see we picked the perfect guy. You definitely need a couple of lessons 'Listen and obey'. Happily for you, I give those lessons. You see, you were the chosen one. You and your team found that girl, ya know. And we want to know who murdered her, so we can whack the guy hard. And now you probably want to know what you being here has to do with it, don't you?'

Mac looked like he didn't care or even listen to this guy, but inside he was trembling for the answer. The 'boss', getting more and more angry because of Mac's behavior, grabbed with his thumb and other fingers Mac's cheeks and clasped so hard Mac couldn't do anything but look straight at him. The guy said, while blood was spilling out of Mac's cheeks:

'I will tell you. You are here, because I can threaten your team to hurry up finding that bastard who killed Trish. He needs to get what he deserves, and fast. Faster than your guys are used to. I don't freaking care how far I have to go, even if it has to be over your dead body. But I can assure you, your task isn't going to be sitting, waiting, wishing.'

The small man came yet closer, grinning now.

'You are gonna feel every bit of your stay here. How longer they gotta take, the more chance you're gonna end up six feet under. And I'll prove you I'm not joking.'

Mac kept his mad looking eyes locked into the guy's eyes, making sure he was not afraid. Instead of striking again, the guy rose slowly and winked at his Flower to come closer.

'You can take out on him now, but don't break anything yet. And I want him to feel everything.'

Flower grinned widely. 'Yeah, with pleasure, boss.'

Right before Flower made his first move, the boss spoke one last time to the CSI boss: 'Nick is going to be fine, by the way. He belongs here, with his family and soon, he will be reunited with his dad. You will never see or touch him again.'

With that, he left Mac with the Flower-guy…


	6. Chapter Six: Message In A Box

**Thank you very much for all the reviews! I will continue with this story :) Here's chapter six. Sorry for the delay, I had an exam Thursday and, well, it wasn't the best exam I've ever made. Maybe even the worst LOL. It doesn't matter anymore now, next time I'll get an A+! Now back to the story.**

**I want to thank Fruitbat for correcting my English!**

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Danny rose up from his pillow and sat on his bed. He had an awful nightmare about Mac being kidnapped and the message on his voicemail. He had thought about it over and over again trying to figure out if it really sounded like Mac. There was something wrong with that message, whilst he had convinced everybody it was really Mac, he still felt there was something strange about it . 

He looked over to his left side, where Lindsay was still asleep. He smiled at the sight of her, so peaceful. It was a miracle she had dealt with the whole situation in Montana so well. He was glad he was with her that day. He was glad she was in his life now. He sank down again and touched her cheek. She mumbled something, but didn't wake up. Danny looked at his clock… 6 am. His shift began at 8, but there was no way he could stay in bed any longer. He had to find out if Mac was already in the lab. If he was not, he wouldn't be able to bare the uncertainty any longer, he would have to go by Macs apartment later today. Maybe he wasn't allowed to call him, but Mac didn't mention dropping by for a second.

Danny quietly got out of bed without waking Lindsay up. He showered and dressed in his favorite jeans and brown polo. Before leaving, he whispered in Lindsay's ear: see _you at the lab later. Bye, sweety_. He planted a kiss on her forehead and left.

At the lab, he was surprised how busy it was at this hour. In the elevator, he literally bumped into Stella. 'Wow wow, easy Danny, and good morning. Why are you so early today?' his curly haired colleague asked.

Danny put his glasses on his nose again. 'Sorry, Stella. Good morning to you too. I was just awake and couldn't sleep anymore. No big deal.' He kept his concerns to himself; he wasn't planning on making Stella worry as well. 'Besides, I'm not the only one who's early, what about you?'

'Couldn't sleep either, too hot.' Also Stella hid her true reason why she was early. She hadn't sleep at all last night, just thinking what was wrong with her boss, her best friend. If he really had to figure out something, why was he not calling her? They always took care of each other, no matter what. What was wrong this time? Stella was hoping she would find the answers today. Instead of saying all this to Danny, she just smiled at him and talked about other things while heading for the 35th floor.

They began processing the evidence from the Jefferson's case. All the blood came back as the victims.

'Well, that's insignificant. No trace of the killer yet, then.' The CSI woman said. 'Sid time then. You coming?'

Danny shook his head. 'Nah, I'll leave you two alone, ha ha.' Danny winked at Stella.

'Very funny, Messer. I have to disappoint you though, nothing is going on between Sid and me, and nothing will ever happen. Understand?' Stella tried to look serious but couldn't stop a smirk.

'Okay, easy. I was just saying.' Danny got closer to Stella. 'But I warn you, I lead this case remember, so I can do what I want with it.' Danny made his most serious face.

'And I am the boss over everything else, and I can do what I want with that, Messer. And I WILL tell everything to Mac when he's back.' Stella joked.

Danny's mind was immediately backed to reality again when he heard Mac's name. Stella noticed that. She put an arm around her friends' shoulders.

'He will be fine, really. He's Mac remember, no more to be said. It isn't coincidental that he is the boss around here. He can deal with a lot of things, and he just needed some time off. Be glad, that he finally he took it. When he's back, he will be as relaxed as he has ever been, I promise you that.' Stella looked at Danny's face figuring out if her words were convincing enough for her co-worker.

Danny smiled at her, not knowing what to say. What they both didn't know was that Hawkes and Lindsay were standing at the door, listening in.

Stella noticed them first. 'Good morning, both of you, we just got the blood results back. No trace of the killer unfortunately. I was just heading to Sid for the autopsy.'

'Good morning to you too.' Hawkes and Lindsay said, almost in unison. 'Any word from Mac yet?' the former M.E. asked.

'No, not yet, but he told Danny he wouldn't call so that's not cause for concern. We just have to wait and see.' Stella said, once more trying to convince a colleague.

Hawkes nodded. 'Ok then. I'll go with you to see Sid. No other cases are in yet and I maybe have to protect you from our flirty M.E.' Hawkes laughed at his own comment and gave Danny a High-5. Stella rolled her eyes, but laughed too.

'You are both so annoying. Lindsay, help me out okay!' She talked out loud to her female friend. The older saw the younger one looking at Danny laughing out loud and smiled. She gave the younger CSI a pat on her back.

'How long are you planning on staring at your crush in public?' Stella whispered in Lindsay's ear. The latter looked confused back at her boss-for-a-few-days and was getting ready to defend this comment, when the receptionist knocked on the door.

'I've a postman with a package for Det. Messer. Security got the guy, but he claims he doesn't know anything about the package. It does seem suspicious though. Can you take a look at it, Detective?' She said.

'Yeah sure, I'll come right away.' Danny said. The girl showed Danny the way, with Stella, Hawkes and Lindsay following closely behind.

In the main hall, Danny spotted the security guard and the mailman. The mailman looked confused and afraid. He doesn't know anything about it, Danny could tell.

'So, who told you to deliver the package?' He asked the postman.

The postman stuttered. 'My boss, as always. I..I don't know man, what's the problem? I just deliver a package, nothing more to it. Please le… let me go, I've got a lot more things to do today.'

Danny nodded to security, who released the guy. 'Can you give me your card, just in case I have more questions?' Danny asked.

The postman handed his card over and almost ran away, stumbling over his own feet.

Stella handed Danny a pair of latex gloves. Danny put them on and took the package.

'No return address on it. Let's open it in the lab.' They walked back to the lab. Danny whispered in Stella's ear, so no one else would hear it: 'I have a bad, bad feeling about this Stella.' Stella said nothing… nothing encouraging to mind.

Danny slowly putted the package on the table. It was just an average box, made of cardboard with tape around it. Danny carefully sliced the tape on both sides and on top. He made sure he touched as little as possible, in case they needed to process it. He unfolded the lids and saw the content of the box…

A DVD cover with a copied DVD in it. Stella, Lindsay and Hawkes looked at the DVD in plain horror. 'I've got a bad feeling about this.' The latter said. Danny took the cover out of the box and the DVD out of the cover. At first glance, everything seemed normal about it. He slid the DVD in the DVD-player. Everyone was gathering around the TV-screen. Danny took a deep breath and pressed 'PLAY'.

First a black screen for almost 5 seconds. All were holding their breath. Then, out of nowhere... big white letters.

HELLO DANNY MESSER

The letters disappeared in three seconds to make place for the next frame.

HOW ARE YOU?

PROBABLY GOOD

NOT ANYMORE NOW I'M AFRAID

I HAVE A FAVOR TO ASK YOU AND THE REST OF YOU

I NEED ALL CSI'S WATCHING THIS NOW

Danny pressed 'PAUSE' and looked to his friends in horror. When he looked back, he saw the crowd was getting bigger. Flack, Adam, and Sid were also standing in the room, looking pale. Flack ripped the remote out of Danny's hand and pressed 'PLAY' again.

TRISHA JEFFERSON, REMEMBER HER?

I WANT YOU TO FIND THE BASTARD WHO KILLED HER

BUT I DON'T HAVE LOTS OF TIME

I WANT YOU TO FIND HIM VERY QUICKLY

AND TO MAKE SURE YOU WORK HARDER THAN USUAL

I'VE GOT A LITTLE SURPRISE

A picture of Mac lying face down, unconscious, his feet and hands bound, appeared on the screen. All the viewers looked terrified. Both Lindsay and Stella brought their hands to their mouth in horror. Anger grew inside Flack, Adam was standing with his mouth open, eyes glued to the screen. Danny and Hawkes looked at each other, then back to the TV. Mac disappeared again, white letters replaced the image of their boss and friend.

EXACTLY

HERE IS THE PLAN

YOU GO DO ALL YOUR STUPID CRIME SCENE THINGS

AND FIND THE KILLER

FOR EVERY 30 MINUTES YOU STILL DIDN'T FIND HIM

YOUR BOSS WILL FEEL IT

AS FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING

TILL THE NEXT PACKAGE!

The DVD automatically stopped. A loud pluf was heard in the back of the room. All looked backwards. Jane Parsons had watched the video from the back of the lab and was so horrified, she had fainted. Stella ran towards her and gave her little pats on her cheek.

'Jane, Jane, wake up, come on, wake up.' Then she saw the piece of paper the DNA-expert was holding in her hand. She carefully took it out of her hand while she kept calling her name. 'Wake up, Jane. Jane!' She then read what was written on the paper. DNA results from the kid. A furious Danny snatched it out of Stella's hands and read it too. Wide eyes were formed. The next second all the others were watching Danny running to the elevator, apparently very shocked.

'What is it, Stel? What were the results?' Flack grabbed the woman's arms and shook her a little. Stella looked at him like she was in another world. When she felt him shaking her again, tears welled up in her eyes.

'He's the son of Sonny Sassone.'


	7. Chapter Seven: One, Two, Start

**Chapter 7 is up! Please read and review (more)! **

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Chapter Seven: One...Two...Start

Flower had stayed a long time. At least in Mac's opinion. To him it felt like it would never end, but it did. After almost 15 minutes, Flower finally got exhausted. With every blow, the guy had brought Mac from almost blessed unconsciousness back to agonizing awareness time and again. With the chain around his neck and both his arms and legs tied, he wasn't able to protect himself or fight back and he realized it wasn't the best thing to do either. The kid was still here, and he wasn't sure that his team were safe. How he prayed they were safe. After a few blows, he wasn't really able to think clearly anymore. When he thought he was gonna fall down and never come back, Flower stoppedMost of the hits he had taken were to his face stomach and chest, leaving him breathless for a second time.

Flower walked to the other end of the room and sat down on the only chair there was. Mac let out a sigh of relief. After ten seconds of total silence, he began thinking clearly again. His mind just wasn't able to stop working. As far as he could see there was just no way out as long as he was chained to this wall. He really needed Danny right now. Danny must have realized that there was something wrong by now, and his team would find him. He knew Danny was made for this job, since the first day he had worked with him. Everybody had been against hiring Danny, but Mac was sure he could make a perfect CSI out of him. Well now was the time for him to show it.

Mac tried to catalogue the results of Flower's aggression. He could feel blood spilling out of every possible vessel in his head and his stomach felt like it was turning inside out. Still, his throat hurt the most of all, like he had been strangled over and over again. He moved his hands and legs a little. There was still no movement in the bonds. There was no way to get out of here. He just realized this was the most complicated situation he had ever been in.

At that moment, the 'boss' came in with someone following him. The new arrival walked like he had too much adrenaline in his blood. Mac frowned. There was still no sign of Nick. Mac wondered where Nick was being kept.

The 'boss' looked towards Mac and grinned.

'Nice job, Flower.' Flower grinned in return and stood up allowing his boss to sit.

The boss sat down on the now vacant chair, gestured to the new arrival and said:

'Bloody here just delivered the package.' Bloody straightened up when he heard his name.

'Yeah man, they so felt for it. They really thought I was just a postman, man. The guy with the glasses just asked me one question and then he sent me away. They so fell for my nervous-trick. Wonderful man, wonderful!' Bloody almost swallowed his words, his happiness making him almost jump for joy.

Mac's eyes grew wide when he overheard this conversation. All his hope faded away. Danny couldn't just have sent this Bloody-guy away. No, it was impossible, but still.. why would the guy lie. Mac couldn't hide it anymore and shook with fear and anger. With all his strength he moved every muscle in his body, causing the bonds to only get tighter around his limbs.

His actions attracted the attention of three man. They looked at Mac and then at each other, and started laughing.

'Let him be, he will relax again soon. And Flower, you can start your task at 8 am. Just once every 30 minutes alright? Alternate a little. You can be harsh now, but remember.. one thing at a time.' The most powerful directed.

Flower nodded in agreement. Bloody guy was still all nervous and jumping from his left to his right foot.

'Hey, wait till he finds out about Sonny, man.' He said.

Mac immediately pricked up his ears when he heard the name Sonny. Sonny Sassone is behind all of this? Sassone got him here, trapped with these crazed thugs, desperate to pound on him till he was dead? Mac struggled even harder now, desperate to get out of here and make everything right, and teach Sassone a lesson. When his hands began to tingle from lack of circulation, he stopped. Realizing that, if he continued to struggle any longer, his feet and hands could loose all circulation. Behind all the blood spilling from his face, anger and frustration boiled inside him.

At the same moment, the 'boss' had immediately turned his face towards Bloody and became furious. He pushed the other man harshly in front of him and they both exited the room. After two minutes a gun shot resounded through the building.

* * *

**To be continued... Longer chapters are on their way!**


	8. Chapter Eight: Sick and Tired

**Finally, chapter 8 is up. Sorry for the delay, I was on vacation and there was no time to update before I went. But I made it up to you: it's the longest chapter so far! And there are hopefully a lot more chapters to come. Please read, enjoy and review!**

**I want to thank Fruitbat for the corrections!**

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Chapter Eight: Sick and Tired

This wasn't happening. It had to be a terrible nightmare. Danny's mind was running wild as he was heading to the elevator. He had seen Hawkes trying to catch up with him, but the elevator doors closed too early for the worried Sheldon. He had called Danny's name, but Danny was already gone.

On the ground floor, Danny ran out of the elevator and out of the building. He ran trough the streets of New York as fast as he could. When he read the DNA-analysis from Jane Parsons, he knew Mac was even more in danger than he already was. The image of Mac in the picture kept running through his mind. He had never seen Mac that helpless. And Sonny was behind bars because of Mac and him. Danny looked at his watch. It was already 11.00 am, or for Mac it was getting on for 3 hours already. That is 6 terrible things had happened; 6 beatings or God knows what else.

Danny sat down on the first bench he saw and put his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. Finally, he and Lindsay were together, everything seemed to be going perfect and now this. If something really bad happened to Mac, he couldn't forgive himself. Mac would be so disappointed in him, after all he had done for him. Tears were swelling up in his eyes when he tilted his head and looked at his hands. Empty, that is what they were.

He was sitting there, staring at his hands, for an eternity it seemed, when his phone rang. An old lady, who was sitting on the other end of the bench, put her hand on Danny's shoulder and shook him lightly. Danny snapped out of his trance and looked at the old lady.

'Aren't you taking that phone call, son? You never know who it will be.'

Danny now felt his phone too and quickly took it out of his pocket and took the call, not knowing who it was. 'Hello.'

'Danny, where the hell are you? Flack is searching for you everywhere and we've been trying to call you a million times.' A worried and angry Stella sounded through the phone.

Danny looked around. 'I.. I have know idea, I just ran and never looked where to.' But then he saw not far behind him, the building where Mac's apartment was in. 'Oh.'

'What oh? Please tell me where you are, so Flack can pick you up. You can not go through this alone Danny. You need us and we need you.' Danny heard Stella crying now.

'You understand? We need you now, and we need to find Mac. God knows what's happening to him at the moment. Maybe you think you're having a difficult time, think about him for Christ sake. HE needs us.' The words could hardly be heard between all Stella's tears. Danny knew she was right. Mac was first priority now, he could deal with his own problems later. Danny gave in.

'I'm in front of Mac's apartment now. And since I'm here, I will examine his place, maybe he left some evidence behind in case… in case he has ever been in there at all. I'm sorry Stel, I just needed some fresh air, to think, you know.' Danny said.

'It's okay, I'm already glad you are at least safe. I'll send Hawkes to you, and Lindsay and I will take the Jefferson's case. Hang in there, okay? Mac's gonna be alright, I promise you that.'

* * *

Stella hung up the phone and almost collapsed. Hawkes saw it happen and hurried towards her to give her a hug. Stella turned around and buried her head in his chest, still crying. 

'It's okay, Stella, it's okay. He's going to be fine.' He gently grabbed her arms and looked in her eyes. 'He has a lot to fight for, and he will fight for it.' Stella slowly nodded. Lindsay's knock on the door made them both look her way. Lindsay looked shocked.

'I only found fingerprints from one person on the package, the postman I suppose. I still have to look at the tape. But I ran the fingerprints through AFIS. I think you guys have to take a look.' Lindsay said, and immediately turned around. Hawkes and Stella followed her quickly and in the lab they saw what Lindsay was trying to say. On the flat screen, the fingerprint showed a hit: Neil Preat, caught 6 years ago for a minor robbery. More interesting was the last sentence that appeared on the screen.

Known Associates: Tanglewood Boys, since 2006. Hawkes let out a big sigh. 'We let him go… Damn it, we let him go.' Sheldon said. He let out another sigh. Stella just looked at the words in front of her, dazed and bewildered. She then turned around and spoke to Hawkes.

'Hawkes, you go to Mac's apartment, Danny is there now, processing any possible evidence. Go help him.' She then turned to Lindsay.

'We go further with the Jefferson's case. Let Adam process the tape for anything unusual, but let's not focus on that. Let's move.' Stella left, followed by Lindsay. Hawkes let out another sigh and headed towards Danny.

* * *

Hawkes entered Mac's apartment with two kits in his hands. He looked around and saw Danny standing near the couch. Danny shook his head. 

'He has never been here after he left the hospital. No traces of the kid, one pair of shoes is still missing, his coat is not on the clothes rack, just nothing. He just has never been here.' Danny said, still a little shaky from his long run. He looked at Hawkes.

'What are we going to do next?' He asked him.

Hawkes came closer into the living room. It really didn't feel comfortable to be in his boss's apartment when he was somewhere else, tied up even. 'Let's see if there's anything new to find out about Sassone and the kid, maybe even give him a visit. Oh and uhh… the postman was a new Tanglewood Boy or has at least something to do with them. You couldn't have known that, Danny. It's not your fault.' Sheldon already took this opportunity to show Danny some support, because he really looked like he needed it. He expected a outburst or at least some curses, but nothing of that kind. Danny didn't even move a muscle.

'Oh. Well, let Flack find out about the kid and stuff. We should drive the route Mac drove from the hospital. We have to find out were they took him and the kid, and how. Let's go.' Danny walked past Hawkes and took his kit out of his hand. Hawkes followed him towards the car. He was acting so much like Mac already, Sheldon thought.

* * *

Flack was heading to jail to meet Sonny Sassone. It would take too much time to transfer him to the police department first, so Flack went to his 'place'. Once he arrived in the meeting room, he saw Sonny behind the wall of glass in his orange suit, smiling at him. Flack tried to stay calm and sat down on the opposite of the gang leader. He picked up the receiver, Sonny did the same.

'Where is Mac?!' Flack almost yelled through the phone. Sonny still smiled.

'What do you mean, detective? Is there something wrong with my lovely CSI-boss? That would be such a pity. I have nothing to do with it man, I swear.' Sonny acted like he was serious, but Flack saw right through him.

'We can work on your serve time. If you cooperate and tell me where he is and what your plan is, I can maybe arrange that you can come out of this hell alive.' Flack knew this was the only way to get Sonny's attention. But instead of considering the deal Flack was offering, Sonny bowed closer to the wall of glass and looked Flack straight in the eye.

'I can't help you, detective.'

'What about Trisha? And your son? What about them, eh?! You can help your son if you just tell me what you're up to.' Flack tried one last time.

Sonny's patience ended after that sentence. 'I will make sure that ass that killed Trisha will get what he deserves, once you find him. No word from your beloved boss till then.' Sonny flung the receiver onto the phone again and stood up, leaving a furious Flack behind. Flack followed Sonny's example and also flung the receiver back in place. He made sure the guards kept an extra eye on everyone visiting Sassone and monitored every phone call he made, before heading back to his car again.

Hopefully the others had found something useful. Damn it. Flack was still cursing when he arrived at his car. He drove back to the lab, in the meantime informing Stella how the conversation went.

* * *

Adam didn't find anything on the tape, just as Stella expected. She and Lindsay had already been studying the clothes and other belongings from Trisha Jefferson for hours. The things that were lying on the ground when they first entered Trisha's room, a lamp and a candlestick, were as clean as the day they had been first bought and the clothes looked clean too.

'There really is nothing unusual to find on the evidence, Stella.' Lindsay said, desperately trying to contact her.

'There must be something. Give me her shirt again, will you.' Lindsay gave Stella the shirt. With a loupe she examined the neckline again. She turned the shirt inside out and repeated her act. She then smiled widely.

'Lindsay, look. Some sort of substance near the seam. She quickly swabbed a little of the substance. Lindsay cut the tip of the cotton bud and made it ready for the centrifuge. She inserted it into the trace analyzer. Both Stella and Lindsay were on edge with impatience as the machine analyzed it. After a minute, it beeped.

'Lubricating oil. The sort of oil that's used in Yamaha bikes to grease the components on the wheels.' Stella summed up from the screen.

'Lindsay, see if there's a surveillance video available from Trisha's apartment. Maybe it spotted the bike we are looking for.' Lindsay got enthusiastic. Finally they had something that brought them further in the case, and also brought then closer to finding Mac.

Lindsay looked at the watch, it was already 2.30 pm. That meant, 8 hours 30 minutes… 8 times that Mac would have been….She quickly shook the image out of her head and walked to the doorway. As she went take her lab coat off, Stella spoke again. 'Take Flack with you. Good luck.' Lindsay nodded and called Flack to pick her up.

Stella focused her attention on the substance and the shirt again, trying to find out how the oil could have transferred there. After 5 minutes of thinking, she came up with two possibilities. Option one: the killer had a job fixing and cleaning Yahama bikes, or option two: the killers bike had a defect recently. Both things were good to trace down. Finally… some progress.

Stella breathed in and out and went on searching.


	9. Chapter 9: Deny

**Here you go, chapter nine. I think this story will last another 5 chapters or so. **

**Thank you again, Fruitbat!**

**Review people, review!**

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Chapter Nine: Deny

Mac didn't exactly want it to get to 8 am. The guys had talked about things happening to him from that time, and he was sure they weren't on planning giving him food or something to drink. Mac had become weak from the loss of blood and the fact that he forgotten to eat the whole day yesterday, didn't make it any more comfortable for him now.

He had managed to get himself in the less painful position leaning back against the wall. He was so tired, he rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He was expecting the Flower guy to get to him and make him stay awake, but to his surprise, the guy was sleeping himself. They were all too relaxed and too sure of themselves, so they must have organized this thing very well. Those facts made Mac worry even more, both for himself and for his team. They sure had a lot of weight on their shoulders. With one man down, they had to find a killer under a lot of pressure and at the same time they had to try to figure out where he was.

While thinking of his team, his mind drifted off into a muddled sleep. His sleep was roughly interrupted when Flower poked his head.

'8 am, mister. Here we go.' The Flower guy looked on a list he was holding and grinned.

'Your leg first'. Fear came over Mac when he heard that. With a huge force, Flower planted his foot on Mac's lower left leg. A strangled scream escaped him as pain exploded up his leg. It hurt like hell. Flower headed to his chair again. Mac was still groaning in pain. He didn't have to look down, he could tell by the pain his lower leg was definitely broken. He puffed in and out to make sure he wasn't going to faint, because he was not far from it. _Damn it, Danny, hurry up_. He thought while he was trying to recover from his injury.

Every 30 minutes that passed by, Flower looked on his list and came towards Mac and every time, Mac became more afraid. This guy really didn't know what he was doing. He was just following orders and that made him even more dangerous. Luckily, not every time was hard. One time it was just an 'ordinary' blow to the head, the other time Flower twisted his arm. But every blow made Mac weaker and weaker.

Around 3pm, he guessed from the number of beatings he had taken, 14 to be exactly, Mac shifted position and tried to ready himself for whatever Flower had in mind next.

Flower approached Mac with a tube of water placing it on the floor in front of him. He grabbed Mac's hair and forced his head under the surface for 2 minutes. Mac wasn't prepared for this and was almost suffocated, when his head was tilted out of the water again. Just after that, the 'boss' came in and walked straight up to him, patting Flower on the back on his way.

'Hello detective, enjoying your stay here?' The boss put on a sad face when he watched Mac struggling for some air.

'It is breathtaking here, especially the view, I know.' The boss laughed at his own comment.

'I really hope your guys have something to tell us, otherwise you will end up in an even worse condition than you are in now. And you know, that curly woman who works for you, she is so pretty, you know that?' The boss was trying to provoke Mac. Watching him struggle was becoming a hobby for him.

Mac's eyes almost stood on fire when he heard that bastard talking about Stella, HIS Stella. With all force and strength he had left, he spat into the guys face. The 'boss' wiped the spit, filled with blood, out of his face and spread it out on Mac's face instead.

'It's not a good idea to do that again, you understand? Maybe I have my orders too, but they can easily be broken, just as you. And when I'm finished with you, that woman will be next, so you better restrain yourself, detective.' Mac realized the guy had not only power over him, but also over others now. Others Mac cared about. These thoughts made Mac wisely calm down again.

'Well, let's post another package for your little friends and hope for you they work fast, uh?' The guy gave Mac a pat on the clean cheek and reached up and ruffled through his hair. 'Good boy'.

The guy walked away with Flower and left Mac alone in the room. When they were out of Mac's hearing range, the 'boss' spoke to Flower.

'It's your turn now, Ed. Deliver the package when nobody's around at the front of the building. Make sure no one sees you there and do not come back here again. If they do see you, they will follow you and everything will be shot to hell. We keep in touch on the phone. Now, go.' The 'boss' handed Ed the package with a note on it.

On that paper was written: Det. Bonasera, CSI. Ed nodded and made his way out of the place. The 'boss' got himself some food, headed back to the room where Mac was and began eating in front of his prisoner.

Flower did as he was told and was in the subway on his way to the NYPD. He walked into a bar at the other end of the street with a clear view of the building, his package in a bag on the table. He watched as the building was slowly emptying. Ducking into the bathroom , he took out the pictures of the CSIs that Derek, his boss, had given him and studied them carefully. When it was 9 pm, he saw two of them, the guy with glasses and the younger girl, standing outside for a while, hugging and kissing. The guy was trying to cheer her up, so it seems. Flower grinned and was already excited to tell Derek about this.

When they were walking inside again, he took his chances and walked towards the building. In an alley he waited till nobody was there and quickly ran along the building and left the package near the sliding doors. When he was out of sight, he called his boss.

Derek felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, just as he had finished with Mac again. He took the call.

'Hey. Really? Good. Nobody saw you of course? Good. You did what?! Are you serious?' Derek turned around and smiled at Mac. 'Thanks.' He hung up and walked back to Mac.

'It will not take long anymore now, darling. Although I'm not sure if it will do them any good you come back. The two young persons are really into each other you know.'

Mac couldn't help but look surprised after he heard the guy speak about Danny and Lindsay. He was in to much pain and to out of it to realize he had made a mistake.

'You didn't know that yet? I got a scoop, woohoo. I'll keep that in mind, you never know when it could come in handy. I'll leave you for a while now. Tomorrow I'm going to make it even more memorable for you here. ' The boss walked away for a second time and got some sleep.

Mac had become extremely weak after the things the boss had done to him. Especially when the guy had shot him. Mac shuddered as he thought back….

_When the guy had finished his meal, he had studied the piece of paper which was lying next to him on the floor, for a while. Mac had never thought a piece of paper could determine his pain and life. The boss's reaction after he read the piece of paper was very similar to Flower's reaction.__ First a concentrated look at the paper, then a look at him, and then a smile. Hurting Mac was just part of the setup, but they seemed to have a lot of fun doing it. The smile didn't disappear after the guy stood up and headed towards Mac. No, it got even wider with every step he took. Mac wasn't planning on showing his fear again, so he locked his eyes onto the eyes of this 'boss'. It didn't work, the boss kept on smiling. Mac's heartbeat raised more and more with every inch the guy came closer. He stopped when he was two feet away from him. Their eyes were still staring at each other. Two eyes were filled with joy, two were filled with anger and determination. No fear escaped Mac's eyes, even though his whole body was filled with it. He had been trained to be determined, no matter what the situation was. And he had been in a lot of strange and bad situations. _

_So his eyes sent out determination, even when the guy stopped within a two feet distance. The smile on the guy's face was still there. Very slowly, he pulled his gun out of the holster and aimed at Mac. First at his head. No, he couldn't shoot his head, he would be dead. Then he aimed at his leg, then his stomach. No, no, all too risky. And there he had found it. The right spot. The 'boss' put his index finger in position aimed and fired …._

All Mac remembered was white hot pain exploding through his right arm……

The bullet had gone straight through his arm. After the shot, the boss had bandaged the wound, to ensure Mac wouldn't die from blood loss. Mac thought the whole situation was so surreal and terrifying, shivers ran down his spine. He had never felt so weak and powerless. A great deal of Mac's body wasn't functioning as it should and his mind was starting to wander, not only because of his injuries, but also because of his desire for food and water right now.

For the second time Mac drifted into a light sleep full of nightmares, but it wasn't going to be a long sleep…


	10. Chapter 10: Half done

**A very nice and long new chapter for y'all! Enjoy! I guess I don't have to ask if some can share their thoughts about this story so far in a review, because nobody will :P I can see I have a lot of readers, so I'll just continue this story. And of course, I want to thank Fruitbat again! Can't say enough how much your help means to me :)**

Chapter Ten: Half done

Flack and Lindsay went back to the car, extremely satisfied. The doorman of the apartment where Trisha Jefferson's lived, did have surveillance footage of the night the woman was murdered. The doorman had fallen asleep himself that night and apologized for that quite a few times, but Flack and Lindsay were already happy he had the videos. On their way back to the lab, Lindsay called Danny. He sounded distant through the phone, busy trying to figure out the route Mac had driven that day with Nick. The phone call only made Lindsay worry more about her boyfriend.

When they got to the lab, Stella was already waiting for them. She informed them of her findings about the oil and the autopsy. The latter hadn't revealed anything, only that the victim died because of the gunshot. Stella had already examined the bullet and that was were she really got excited.

'Guess what? On the bullet, there were also traces of the oil we found on the vics shirt. And because the cause of death was the gunshot to her head, the man with the oil on his hands definitely has blood on his hands too. He is our killer.' Stella told enthusiastically. Flack understood only half of what the woman in front of him was babbling about, but he didn't care about the explanation. Stella was enthusiastic, so he probably should be too.

'And we found the surveillance videos.' Flack showed the tapes to Stella. 'We won the jackpot.' They all walked to the lab again and began watching the tapes. Flack had bought himself and the ladies some coffee. They all sat down, watching the videos quietly. Each one caught up in their own thoughts and concerns about the case and Mac. After three and a half hours of watching, Lindsay jumped of her chair and pointed to the screen, which Stella had paused.

'Look! It's a motorbike. Zoom in on the brand, Stella.' Stella did as she was told and zoomed in near the handle bars. She also jumped of her chair now.

'It's a Yamaha!' She zoomed in on the license plate. 'IM MASTER'. This time, it was Flacks turn to speak.

'If he resists when we arrest him, we can always arrest him for having the most stupid license plate in whole of New York.' His comment made both ladies smile.

'Can you find out who this Master is?' Flack asked Stella. Stella walked over to a computer and typed the letters. The computer beeped.

'Oh, yeah. Flack, you better not arrest him for his license plate. His real name is Frank Master.' Stella laughed at Flack. Flack's mouth opened in astonishment.

'If I had that name, I would have killed someone too.' Flack left, leaving the women smiling for the second time.

Danny tried as hard as he could not to scare Lindsay, because she was so happy she had found a lead in her case. He and Hawkes couldn't exactly say the same. They had gone to the hospital to question the doctors and other staff. Nobody had seen Mac after they left him alone with the boy. In the room Nick had been examined in, they had found no traces of a struggle or anything what so ever that could help them. The parking lot where Mac's car had been parked during his stay, was clean too. Now they were on the route they thought Mac would have taken to the lab. None of the guys were really in the mood for talking, although Hawkes tried to cheer Danny up a bit. He didn't succeed in that.

When they were half way along the route, at the crossroads where Mac had stopped because of the accident. Hawkes parked the car on the side of the road and they went searching. Evidence of the accident was still visible, although the crossroad was already open again. There was no way they could block off the traffic, so they searched whenever the green light for the pedestrians appeared. After hour of traversing the crossroad again and again, they sat down on a curb, exhausted. Hawkes had found some paint, probably from vehicles hitting each other. Danny had found a broken cell phone, not very likely from the attackers but he bagged it anyway. It was getting dark and both men had resigned to the fact it was impossible to track Mac down this way. Danny was the first to speak.

'I guess this was all for nothing, Hawkes. We won't find Mac this way. I'm losing faith.'

'Danny, we will find him, one way or the other. Mac would never lose faith if someone else was in his position. Come one, let's get back to the lab, we won't get any further sitting here. The more people, the better the chances.' Hawkes helped himself up.

'We can't do anything more! There's no way we can find Mac in time!' Danny was getting angry now, completely tired of this whole day.

Sheldon was surprised as Danny started talking so pessimistic again. 'You can't just lose it like that, Danny. Maybe we did this for nothing, but that doesn't mean it's all for nothing. Those guys are going to make a mistake sooner or later, and then it is our turn. We just have to stay focused.'

Danny scoffed. 'You really wanna sound like Mac, uh? Stay focused, wait till they make a mistake. I'm not just gonna sit and wait like you suggest. These guys are good, can't you see? The only mistake they're going to make is beating Mac to death instead of keeping him alive. Do you want to wait for that?!' Danny was getting really pissed now, but so was Hawkes.

'You are getting way too emotional now, Danny. So when one thing fails, you give up completely? I'm sure Mac will not be very pleased to hear that. If you quit now, Mac will indeed be dead, but not because of those guys, but because of you.' Hawkes knew he was gone too far but there was no way back down now. Both guys weren't aware of the crowd that had gathered around them.

Danny exploded after these words and hit Hawkes hard right above the eye. Hawkes wanted to hit him back, but bystanders stopped both him and Danny. After a couple of minutes, the CSI's were calmed down again and apologized to each other. Hawkes was bleeding a little above his eyebrow but was going to live. Still a little shaky, they got back into their car and drove back to the lab.

Back in the building they came together in Mac's office, being the only place where they could talk quietly. For convenience's sake, Hawkes told everyone he had walked into a lamppost. The others weren't sure they should believe him, but there was a bigger danger now: time. Stella told Danny and Hawkes of their findings and Danny did the same to the women, hardly keeping himself from getting angry again. Nothing further could be done at the moment, so they decided to take a little break until Flack got back with the Master. It was already late and they were all having a hard time keeping their eyes open, but no one thought about quitting. While Stella and Hawkes headed to the break room to get a lot of coffee, Danny and Lindsay went outside the building for some fresh air. Once they were outside, Danny pulled Lindsay into a long hug. She felt his warmth surrounding her, the warmth she had been begging for the whole day. The whole situation had already taken too much out of her and everyone else. When they pulled apart, she looked in his beautiful eyes, tears almost welling up.

'You already know that I love you, Danny?' Lindsay said to the man in her arms.

'I don't mind if you'll tell me another million times.' Danny pulled her closer and kissed his girlfriend passionately. After their kiss, they stayed outside, hugging and convincing one another this would all be over soon.

Right after they were in the lab again, Stella got a call from Flack that Mr. Master was waiting in the interrogation room. They all headed towards the room, only Flack and Stella going in. Hawkes, Danny and Lindsay just stayed on the other side of the one-way mirror. Adam and Sid had joined them there. They all went silent as Stella started talking to their suspect.

'Any clue why we brought you here, Mr. Master?' Stella asked the man in front of her. The guy was in his late thirties and was definitely the guy from the surveillance videos, only shaven this time. The man pretended he was confused.

'No, I have no idea, detective. I can't remember killing anyone the last few days.' Stella reacted quickly on his answer.

'You maybe reconsider that, Frank. Namely, we saw you on the surveillance videos of an apartment house in which a 20-year old woman was murdered. And guess what? We saw your bike too.' Stella self-confidently told the man. He, in turn, tried to hide his disappointment.

'What are you talking about? Which woman? Why would I kill a woman?' He said. This time it was Flacks turn to answer.

'Well, that is what you will tell us. We are always very curious about the reasons why people want to kill other people.' Stella continued after the homicide-detective stopped talking. She showed their suspect a picture of Trisha Jefferson.

'You know her?' The man took a look at the picture and shook his head. Stella tried again, now showing the victims shirt with the oil on it.

'Maybe you remember this shirt then. When you stabbed her, she tried to get away. You grabbed her shirt, this shirt, and left your signature on it: oil.'

'Oil? Right, the oil makes me the killer? Are you guys insane?' The man tried to defend himself once more.

'Yes, it does, because it is the oil that matches the oil in and on your bike, and only your bike. And you also shot her through the head, because she was stronger than you thought.' A lab tech walked into the room at the moment Stella finished her sentence. The guy handed her a file over and left. Stella looked at the file and smiled.

'And you just tested positive for gun shot residue.' Flack took over from Stella.

'So only two questions remain: where is the knife and where is the gun, Master?' Flack came threateningly close to the suspect. The guy looked straight in the detective's eyes.

'No way I'm going to tell you, dude. Take off your fancy suit and go search yourself.' The man said to Flack.

Flack wasn't all too pleased to be called 'dude' and was trying to keep himself calm with great effort, when another knock on the door followed. A man and a woman stepped inside the room. Stella recognized them as two other CSI's who always worked a shift after her. The woman whispered something in Stella's ear and the man gave her their file. They left after Stella thanked them. She then turned around to face Frank Master again.

'It's just getting better and better. Our colleagues just found lots of interesting stuff on your bike, Frank.' She showed him the pictures the CSI's had taken, one by one. She began with the gloves.

'Under your seat, we found these gloves for starters. With blood on them. It will only be a matter of time until we match it with Trisha Jefferson's blood.' Stella studied the guy's facial expressions as she continued, this time with a picture of the knife.

'And look at that, a knife, how surprising! With also blood on it, and probably not your dogs blood.' Last was the picture of the gun. 'I don't need to explain you this picture, do I?' Stella leaned forwards.

The guy didn't get furious, didn't cry, didn't even blink. He just said there, smiling. 'Wonderful job, detective.'

'So you confess you killed her?' Stella asked, wanting him to say it out loud.

'Yeah well, she deserved it. She humiliated my brother by rejecting him. He loved her and she just said no. You don't just say no to a Master.' The man almost smiled now.

Both Flack and Stella took a couple of seconds to let this answer penetrate. After that, Flack pulled the guy up and cuffed him. When they walked out of the interrogation room, he couldn't resist saying one more thing.

'Congrats, DUDE, for being the dumbest ass on the planet.' The man only smiled at this comment.

Stella got out of the room and out of the building to catch some fresh air and to try and compose her thoughts. _Half done now_, she thought. _This sick man will bring us to Mac_ _and everything will be fine again. _She looked up to the sky and closed her eyes. _Mac, if you are hearing me now, please stay with me alright. You have to stay with me and be strong. It will only be a matter of time and you will be out of this hell and with me. _She opened her eyes, still looking up. _I can't live without you Mac Taylor, you hear me. I can't live without you… I love you Mac. Please let me free you, so I can tell you I love you._ Stella was crying now.

She regained her strength again and was just going to head back in the building again, when she noticed the package. She kneeled down next to it and saw her name written on it. She didn't have the patience to wait for Danny to get downstairs with gloves, so she just lifted up the package as carefully as possible and ran upstairs again. Once she was out of the elevator, she yelled the names of her colleagues.

'DANNY! LINDSAY! FLACK! HAWKES! The lab, NOW!' Everyone inside could hear her yell, and the called ones quickly ran to the lab at full speed. When they got there, they all looked at the package in horror.

'Another one?' Danny asked Stella, who was clearly upset.

'I found it next to the sliding doors. My name is on it, it must be from him again. Picking up a knife Stella sliced through the tape with shaking hands both desperate and afraid to see the contents within." She hadn't even realized that she had cut herself until Danny stopped her.

'Stella, your bleeding, let me do this. You may contaminate evidence on it.' He slowly spoke to his friend. Stella now noticed her bleeding hand and gave Danny the knife. The package contained a DVD box with a DVD inside for the second time. Danny got a weird feeling of a dejà-vu. He slid the DVD into the DVD player and pressed 'PLAY'


	11. Author's Note

**I owe you an apol****o****gy.**** I haven't ****updated**** my story in ages, at least not since this summer. There are several reasons for my absence. The third year of my study Medicine started again and it's been really busy (but great so far), there were (and still are) some problems with my health but I've got it under control at this moment, and after more and more time past I lost my inspiration for the story. Luckily (and finally), I resumed writing a few weeks ago. Right now I'm somewhere in the middle of chapter 14. My dear and lovely second opinion and corrector is experiencing**** some busy times, so the update is a little more delayed than it already was but I promise you, chapter eleven will come somewhere this week. I hope you're still with me and didn't ****lose your attention yet. It will have a very interesting and exciting continuation!**

**Merry Christmas Everybody!**


	12. Chapter 11: Deal or no Deal

**Finally, the next chapter! Let me know what you think! Thanks to fruitbat for correcting my English!**

Chapter Eleven: Deal or No Deal

None of the viewers were exactly sure how they felt after they had watched the video. The DVD began with the same white letters as the first one, the big difference being Stella was the one it was being addressed to this time instead of Danny.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL STELLA

DO YOU MISS YOUR BOSS?

OR IS HE SECRETLY MORE THAN YOUR BOSS?

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

YOU BETTER HURRY NOW

THE DEADLINE IS AT 7 AM TOMORROW

DETECTIVE FLACK MUST BRING THE KILLER TO YOUR BOSS' APARTMENT

ALONE!

YOU WILL RECEIVE A SMS AFTER THAT

AS TO WHERE YOU CAN FIND THE DETECTIVE

IF YOU'LL ALL BEHAVE

HE'LL BE ALIVE

OR ELSE…

They all just stood there in silence. After a minute, Adam was the one who asked the question out loud everyone was thinking of.

'What should we do?' A tremble could be heard in his voice. They all turned away from the screen and looked at him. Adam wasn't the bravest man in this room, but he was the most experienced when it came to knowing what the kidnappers were doing to Mac right at this moment. When he had been a child, living with his dad had felt like being kidnap victim to him. Day after day went by when his father had beaten him till he was unconsciousness. Nobody could have saved him those times, but now he could save someone else. He knew what was happening to Mac right now, and they had to save him as fast as possible.

Danny saw Adam standing there in the corner of the room, trembling. He remembered that Adam had told him once that his dad was a bully. _That's what shaking him up,_ Danny thought. He knew Adam was right, they had to free Mac, and soon.

'So, what is the plan? Flack? Isn't there some sort of strategy for this?' Danny asked his friend.

'There are a few options I guess. Option one: we let the guy go to Mac's apartment, but we surround the place in the meantime and catch the kidnapper or kidnappers. Of course there are a lot of disadvantages to this option.' Flack tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible, trying to keep a professional detachment, trying hard not to remember it was one of their own that they were trying to save.

'We still don't know where Mac is, they could figure out they're surrounded and kill Master, or us, and we could end up only catching the accomplices and the real perpetrators could go free.' Stella said, who had finally managed to focus her thoughts.

'Option two?' Danny asked, getting a little impatient.

'Option two: we let Master go, but wearing a wire.

'There's a big chance they'll kill him instantly, they could find the wire, Mr. Master has to cooperate and we still wouldn't know where Mac is.' Lindsay sighed.

'There has to be some way to get these guys!' Hawkes said. The rest looked at him, a little annoyed now.

'Option three, Flack?' Danny continued.

'Option three: someone goes undercover and we let them take him away, the rest of us following at a safe distance and we strike when the time is right.' Flack said, looking Danny straight in the eyes.

'They know all of us. They would see through that trick right away.' Danny was the one who argued the option this time.

'That's the problem. And it has to be someone who was with us when we interrogated Master, someone that knows the whole story behind the murder.' Flack said. 'He probably looked us over before he started this…. This madness.' Everyone was looking at the ground now, not knowing which of the options they should choose. All of them were dangerous and they weren't even sure the kidnappers were planning on giving Mac's location at all.

'Let me do it.' Everybody faced the direction where the words came from.

Adam stepped forward. 'I was standing behind the one-way mirror when you guys spoke to the guy. I know his motives and the way he did it. The perpetrators don't know me. Let me do it.'

'No way, you are not going to do this Adam! You are not trained for it! They could kill you!

'It's Mac's only chance. You can give me instructions.' Nobody had seen the lab-tech so certain as he was now. _They all just stood there _, looking at their friend and only option left to save Mac. Danny couldn't believe what Adam just suggested. He was now trapped between two impossible choices: to let Mac die or to let Adam be kidnapped… None of which were right. No person should be forced to choosebetween such things. Danny looked down, defeated. This was the second instance in a short period of time that he almost lost himself and was at the point of crying, no way was he going to speak now and everyone could notice him weakened. He had to be strong now. He said nothing.

Lindsay only could look at Danny. For her, the whole situation was a complete nightmare, but for her boyfriend was it far worse. His boss and friend was being held captive somewhere, in horrifying circumstances his fate hanging in the balance and now the nightmare was getting worse… the only person who could save their boss now, was one of his best friends. Lindsay walked over to Danny and squeezed his hand tightly, only to let him know he was not alone in this. Danny didn't look up at her, but she felt his hand tighten in hers. They were not alone.

Flack and Hawkes exchanged looks before looking back at Adam. Flack was trying to rationalize, but couldn't get his mind working properly. All kinds of thoughts and feelings were churning randomly in his brain before one feeling forced itself to the forefront… Guilt. He felt guilty. He looked to all the people in this room. They all used to be so confident, so smart. Now they looked scared and defeated. He felt responsible for all their pain. He should have foreseen all this, he should have stayed with Mac, he should have saved him. But he had done nothing and now he had to make a choice that could save one life or cost two. He was at the point of making the most important call of his life and he couldn't think straight.

Flack took one last glance around the room and finally spoke.

'Adam's right. He's our only chance', he said. A lot of panicked eyes flicked between himself and Adam. One question lingered in all their minds…

_What should we do? _No one knew, until…

The TV emitted a high pitched scream, for all the world like heart monitor flatlining in a hospital. Everybody turned to the screen instantly.

The sound grew louder and louder… the black screen slowly coalescing into a picture. A picture of Mac, totally unrecognizable as their boss and friend anymore. He was covered in blood and half-sitting in an abnormal position. He looked like a rag doll as if every bone in his body had been broken. They all hold their breath when they saw movement of his chest. He was alive, Mac was alive… The excitement of their first discovery was soon replaced with unimaginable fear. The frequency of the movement was almost too shallow to acknowledge.

Stella walked over to the screen, not hiding her tears anymore. Her hand reached up to the place where she thought his face was. The face she was so found of, she dreamt of at night, every night. After almost a minute, the screen went black again and the DVD-player automatically opened and revealed the disc again.

Stella turned around and walked over to Adam. She grabbed both his hands.

'Are you sure you want to do this?', Stella asked him, almost disgusted by how weak she sounded to her own ears.

After the sight of Mac, Adam had no doubt anymore. _Confidence had taken the place of absolute fear._ 'Let me do it. You got me covered, it's okay. I can handle it.' Adam looked in her eyes. Stella looked back and nodded. 'Alright. Get him ready, Flack.'

The night settled in and continued just like any normal night. Only, in the crime lab everything was far from normal. Since Adam had offered to help them by going undercover, Flack and Danny had helped him with all the necessary equipment. Almost half a police corps were collected in the small break room. Flack took the lead. He made sure every cop in the room had their task completely straight in their head. On every corner of Mac's apartment building he was putting an undercover car. Some would follow when the perps took Adam away, some would stay to gather information, some would go into Mac's apartment to search for trace. When everybody knew what they had to do, he demanded them to rest and gather in the room a 5.30 am again. Soon he was alone with Danny and Adam in the room.

For a couple of minutes they were silent. They heard Hawkes arguing with Stella and Lindsay. He wanted them to get some sleep, but Stella and Lindsay were determined to stay awake, so there was no chance the others left them sleeping at 7 am. Danny felt sorry for Sheldon and knew it would help when he assisted him. Danny turned to Adam.

'It looks like Hawkes can use my help.' Both Adam and Flack forced a smile. 'You can do this Adam, you know you can. You'll never be alone in this whole situation.' Danny put his hands on his friends' shoulders. 'We have faith in you.' Adam nodded. He already doubted his suggestion from the minute he had voiced it, but he knew there was no way back. Mac would have done the same for him, probably even more. They all needed his help right now, this was the time to show what he's worth.

Danny left the room, leaving Adam with Flack. He saw Adam sitting down and Flack was starting to walk the plan through with him. _I really hope we made the right decision… _Danny turned around and walked towards his friends. Hawkes took Stella in his arms, he took Lindsay. Within half an hour, all four were asleep…

At 6 o'clock in the morning the first undercover cars left to Mac's apartment. They would drive around till it was time, so they wouldn't be as conspicuous. At 6.30, it was time for Adam to go. He didn't wear a wire; with the thing on he couldn't relax for a second. Flack tried to convince him, but he lost. Adam wanted to go without the wire. Flack left alone with Adam in a police car. In the car they repeated the situation one last time.

Adam rhymed off all the rehearsed answers Flack had taught him. 'I'm Frank Master, I'm a stupid guy, I know a lot about bikes, especially Yamaha, my brother's name is Jude, killed Trisha because of him, first with a knife, next with a gun and I just left here. I'm sorry because of it and have no idea what I'm doing here. Other questions, I'll improvise.' Adam looked to his right. The world was driving by. _Please, please, let me stay alive. _His mind wondered off but snapped back to reality when Flack spoke to him. In those hours they were alone in that room, they had become good friends, even though they really hadn't a lot in common. They came up with two things: Mac and courage. It was enough.

'Are you ready? You can still back off. You only have to say so.' Flack looked in his rearview mirror into the pale looking lab tech. _Hopefully we're right about this. Otherwise…_ If it wasn't this kind of situation, he wouldn't even thought about letting the guy go undercover. But this was about Mac and when it's Mac, rules are no longer rules. Exceptions have to be made.

'I'm ready, Flack. Let's do this for Mac.' Adam said resolutely, almost scaring himself because of the sharpness in his voice.

Flack parked the car in front of the building. He stepped out and walked over to the other side, letting out a cuffed Adam. Holding his arm, they both walked towards Mac's apartment. Flack sat Adam down on the couch in Mac's living room and removed the handcuffs. He caught the man's gaze and quickly turned around before Adam saw him shaking. He left the front door ajar and headed back to his car, only to pull his car out of sight a couple of blocks away so he could walk back to the scene without being seen. Halfway down the street, he met Danny and Stella, both dressed in a bulletproof vest. Lindsay and Hawkes weren't trained enough to go with, so they stayed at the crime lab, kept informed by one of the three. Flack, Danny and Stella watched when they saw a car pull down next to Mac's apartment. Two men stepped out and cautiously scanned the area. When they thought they were safe, they took the stairs to Mac's apartment.

'Looks like they are to trusting. Luckily for us.' Flack whispered.

'I would love to catch those guys and beat them to death.' Danny said, biting his lip in a attempt to temper his anger.

'Poor Adam.' Both men went silent again after this comment from Stella.

Two minutes later they saw the two men coming out of the building again, Adam in front of them. They walked back to their car and drove off. Flack talked to the other cops through his walky-talky.

'Follow them, but not too close.' When all three headed back to another car, Danny began to curse.

'O damn it, shit!'

'What?! What is it, Messer?' Flack turned around, clearly irritated.

'Does Mac have pictures of Adam in his house?' Danny asked more to Stella than to Donald.

'I… I don't know… damn it.' Stella said. 'Tell the guys who are going to search his place, to check it out. I don't think Mac has one of him, not yet, at least…' Danny wasn't relieved by the answer.

'Let's not think about that. We have to go through with it.' Flack said.

Both Danny and Stella nodded and walked towards the car. As unnoticed as possible, they followed the car with their friend in it, not sure about his destiny and future and the destiny and future of the other man that was resting on his shoulders…


	13. Chapter 12: Two lives in danger

**Here's my next chapter. Just a few chapters left before the ending! I hope you all keep reading!**

Chapter Twelve: Two lives in danger

He felt like he had been in this place, next to this wall, for a whole year. As far as he could recall, it hadn't been more than two days because, especially the last 24 hours, no minute had gone by without feeling the terrible pain. The pain was everywhere. He knew all his limbs were broken, except for one leg, which was probably severely bruised. Mac shifted trying to find a less painful position. He regretted the move almost immediately, groaning as renewed pain coursed through his broken body.

When every one of the 30 minutes-rages were over, the boss, Derek, had give him some rest. Mac had been passed out for five minutes, before the ever present the pain woke him up. Since then, he had studied the room and Derek, who was still sitting in his chair. Because he wanted to eat his food, Derek had pushed his ski mask up till it was just under his nose. Mac had watched the mouth, trying to remember if he had ever the seen the guy before, but nothing came to his mind. His voice hadn't rang a bell either. The light to Mac's left was still flickering, and except for the man, there was nothing extraordinary about the room he was being held in. It almost looked like a bunker. The walls consisted of only bare stone; the door was made of steel with a large heavy lock on it. Only hard sounds could be heard trough the wall, no footsteps or voices. Mac had really no idea if there were more members of the gang in the building, and there had been no sign from the child Nick since the beginning. The child probably meant a big deal to them, so he would be still alive and probably not even hurt._ When or if his team got him out of here_, they would go search for the child. Hopefully Nick wasn't all that far away yet.

When Mac thought about his team, he immediately felt fear for them. Rescuing him would be a tricky plan, this gang knew what they were doing. Mac knew how angry and helpless he felt when one of his team, one of his friends, was in danger. When that building had blown up with him and Flack inside, his only thought had been about Flack. How to save him and why he hadn't sent him away when he first found that bomb. The guilt had never gone away and probably never would. He had also felt anger towards the bomb expert, who had almost killed Flack. He felt helpless when only luck and faith could safe Flacks life. It had been one hell of a day, and there was no way Mac would forget that day anytime soon. And he doubted he would forget these two days either, if he managed to live through them.

_Macs thoughts drifted from Flack to __Stella…_ Mac could see her face clearly now. Her long and slim face, those unique and wild curls, those pretty bright eyes looking at him. Her eyes were filled with happiness and her perfect smile appeared. The image became larger and he could see her reaching for someone's hands. The hands belonged to himself. His hands gripped hers and pulled her close. His eyes were sparkling now, looking at her with all the love he could give. A soft chuckle escaped her mouth. The smile on her face stayed while their heads came closer to each other… Right before their lips touched, her face disappeared just like everything else in his mind as he started to loose his battle with the conscious world.

Mac's head became heavier and heavier. His body was losing the fight. Droplets of blood were still oozing out of a fresh wound on the side of his head. Mac tried to rest his head against the wall behind him, but his throat, which was still severely bruised from the blow Derek gave him when they first spoke, couldn't handle his new position. Images were flying through his head. Images of Stella, Danny, Flack, Lindsay, Hawkes, even Adam… bad images. The more time past, the darker and more violent the images became. His mind was losing it to his body. His eyelids were heavy and every blink was like he had to move a mountain. He didn't need a scientific mind to know what was happening… he was dying. The dried blood that surrounded him, the pain inside him which clearly indicated that internal bleeding was a very real possibility, he was drifting in and out of consciousness, he could feel his slowing pulse with every drop of blood that seeped out of his wounds. The whole concept would have interested him extremely if he still had a properly working brain, his scientific obsession would have analyzed every inch of himself but he simply couldn't get his mind to focus anymore. The darkness almost claimed him again, but an image of Sid hanging over him with a scalpel jarred him back. But then again darkness..

Almost as if Derek could sense something was wrong, he looked over in his victims direction. He saw the man struggling for air, struggling for the less painful position, struggling to stay alive… It was not that he felt sorry for him, it was just a necessity for him to stay alive a little longer. He didn't want to spoil all the fun already. The big bang was planned at the end, so this detective had to stay alive until then. Derek stood up and walked over to the detective. He knelt down and watched him for a second. He then tried to examine him, while speaking to the detective and to himself at the same time.

'What is it, man? Why can't you just stay alive for a little longer. You're still bleeding?' Derek knew Mac wasn't able to speak, but he noticed that the CSI didn't even look at him anymore. He couldn't get his eyes open. Derek slapped him softly on the cheek a couple of times.

'Wake up man! Don't die yet, okay!' He checked his pulse; it was still there although slow. He was still breathing but it was very shallow. He then saw the wound on his head, which was still bleeding. He quickly tried to stop the blood with one of his sleeves. Mac's entire face was covered in blood, but when Derek wiped away some of the blood with his sleeve, he noticed just how pale the detective was looking. He pushed harder against the wound on Macs head while he continued to slap him on the cheek, as he demanded that the detective woke up. After almost two minutes, Mac was conscious again and managed to get his eyes open. Derek suppressed a sigh.

Just then, the door burst open. Two men came in dragging a third man between them. His head was covered with a black bag. The man in the middle was clearly shivering, probably from fear.

'There you are! Finally! What took you so long!' Derek jumped up and turned around to face the new arrivals. As he stood Derek had turned Mac's head to face the direction of the three men. The move had hurt, but Mac didn't care because now he could see what was happening. Derek walked up to the guys with firm steps. He was clearly upset. He focused his eyes on one of the two men.

'Did you lose your tongue?! What took you so long?!' The man wasn't shocked or scared of these words or his bosses anger:

'We drove as fast as we could. You told us we had to be thorough, so we were. We took a quick look in the apartment. Didn't find anything interesting, I think they didn't want to screw this up this time and just gave us the guy. And we got him, okay? No problem.' Derek did everything except getting calm from his words.

'No problem? Of course it's a problem! The longer you stayed, the more the chance they had to follow you! Did they follow you?' His voice became angrier while he stepped into the guys personal space, getting right up into his face.

'I didn't see anyone. They would be crazy to risk their boss's life.' The calm guy grabbed at Derek's shoulder with his hand. 'I wouldn't have risked it if it were your life on the line, and we are not even the good guys here, remember.' Derek finally calmed down after this comment.

'Good, okay. You're probably right.' Derek looked down to the figure between his guys and remembered again why they were here in the first place.

'So this is him, he. The one who killed Trisha.' Both the other guys nodded.

'Let's see what fish we caught before we skin it, right guys?' Both the guys smiled and nodded again. This was the moment of truth. The moment they had all been waiting for. Derek had given orders by Sonny to find the killer, no matter what they had to do for it, and kill him like he had killed Trisha. "_Just make sure he suffers before you kill him." _Derek remembered Sonny say. Derek snapped out of his trance and looked at the guy in the middle again. He put his hand on the top of the plastic bag and took a couple of deep breaths letting them out slowly.

With another sigh he put his fingers around the skull underneath the bag. He felt a lot of hair. At the same time as he pulled off the bag, Derek heard several cars hit the brakes. The fact they could hear it, made the noise at a very close range. Derek turned to the guys, furiously.

'They did follow you?! Go check out who they are and come tell me right away!' Derek screamed. The guys left the room as fast as they could.

Mac's heart froze. The one who appeared from underneath the bag wasn't someone he was expecting. He had expected anything but, Adam?! No, he never thought he would see him here in this situation. Adam the lab-tech, Adam the genius and the best of his class, Adam the shy but funny one. Adam meant a lot to him, but it wasn't like he knew anything about him, except those things. Every day they shared results and conclusions of tests Adam had ran for him. But the conversations never went beyond work. Mac now regretted this as he saw Adam shivering with fear, eye locked with his own. Flack would have never just let him walk into this. It wasn't a good idea to let Adam play this role. He wasn't trained, he had never been in this sort of situation before and he wouldn't know what to do. Were his team so desperate, to send an innocent friend into this mess? Mac felt himself become dizzy again.

Shots were heard through the walls.

Adam's heart stopped pounding. Flack had tried to drill into him the whole night, what he had to do in all kinds of situations, and what he should not do. At this moment, Adam couldn't remember any of those things, and that made him even more frightened than he already was. But when the bag was pulled off his head, his sight locked on one thing. The man in the corner. The man with torn clothes, the man who was tied up. The man… who was covered in blood, lots of blood. Almost nothing indicated that the guy he was looking at, was Mac, but when he saw those green eyes, which were looking at him shocked, there was no doubt. This guy, totally beaten up, was Mac. Mac his boss, the one he trusted blindly, the man who was almost a saint to them all. The only thing that indicated that Mac was still alive, were his open eyes. When he took a closer look, he was taking very slow and shallow breaths. If they didn't get him to the hospital soon, then they had done this all for nothing.

More shots were heard. A couple of fists were banging on the only door in the room now. All three man inside the room were startled by the sound of those fists. They heard someone yelling behind the door, but no one could make sense out of the sound and Adam didn't even recognize the voice. The walls and door were too thick to let any sound in. Then it was quiet for a few seconds, only to continue with a even louder bang to the door, which made the door move a bit, but not much. They were trying to break in the door. Four bangs followed, none of them successful. Another silence came. Larger artillery was probably being prepared.

_Since the first attack on t_he door, Derek hadn't move a muscle. He had frozen. After the last bang to the door, he had managed to regain his sense again. There was no way out, that door was the only entrance and exit, and they were trying to break it in. No escape plan was possible; he had to take the fight. He grabbed Adam by his hair and pressed his gun to his head. Adam squeezed his eyes shut in fear.

'Don't make an unexpected move, or you're dead. Don't move at all before I say so.' Derek dragged Adam by his hair to the other side of the room, to the point farthest away from the door.

Adam whined in pain, but managed to get to the other side, Mac's side, without too much damage. Derek threw him to the floor, so the guy was standing between him and Mac.

A louder shot echoed through the room. It sounded like a shotgun was now being used to take care of the locked door. The first bullet wasn't a through and through, but a second shot penetrated the door followed by a few more.. Another attempt at breaking the door down succeeded after a flew blows. Flack and a couple of SWAT guys stormed into the room, directly followed by the rest of Mac's team. Their guns were pointing towards the three men in the far corner of the room.

Mac felt a hand on his neck, pulling him up. Mac couldn't deny the pain caused by it and cry out a little. As Derek pressed a gun against his head.

When Mac looked up he saw those 5 people standing there… Flack, Hawkes, Lindsay, Danny, Stella. His family, his love. He tried to catch her eyes, but his vision was blurred. He forced himself to focus as hard as he could, but it didn't help.

One last look. Did he see tears? He only wished that, if someone had to die today in this room, it was him and not one of those 5 people he loved the most in this world.

After that he didn't hear or see anything more.

Eight hearts stopped pounding.

Mac's eyes closed.


	14. Chapter 13: Choose Your Faith

**Hello again! Here's my next chapter. Just sit back and enjoy! To all the reviewers: thank you so much ******** More reviews are still welcome of course!**

Chapter Thirteen: Choose your faith

Derek felt the head in his hand, falling down. He had one arm wrapped round Mac and used his fingers to check for a pulse while he kept an eye on the others. _Was that a beat? Or was it his own heartbeat? No, it was definitely not his own. It was the detectives. He was still alive. _ Derek let out an unnoticeable sigh. _Wait, why was he relieved? The whole plan was to kill the guy, and now he was relieved when he felt a pulse? _He was snapped out of his little trance when one of the detectives in front of him slowly spoke.

Danny was the first one who recovered from the sight before him. He knew the Tanglewood Boys well enough too understand that they hadn't exaggerated. When he saw Mac leaving the conscious world, he knew he had to do something before it was too late. And there was also Adam, who seemed unharmed at first sight. _Two of his best friends lives hung in the balance, he couldn't just stand here and do nothing!_ So Danny spoke.

'Let him go, man. You can't go anywhere. Face it. You're trapped.' His words seemed to jolt the others awake. All grabbed their guns tighter in their hands to prepare for the battle that was about to go down in just a matter of minutes.

A smile appeared on Derek's face. 'Well well, you must be Danny. The one and only little bro of dear Louie. How is he doing? Still in a coma or have you already pulled the plug?'

Flack turned his head to face Danny so he could calm him down. He was surprised by the calmness that still covered his friends face. He inwardly smiled. _Good boy. Go for it. _

Danny, indeed, continued, trying to keep his brother out of his mind. 'This is not about Louie or me, and it's not about Mac either. So why don't you hand him over to us. Then we can negotiate about the other guy.' Danny waved his hand in the direction of Adam who was still on the floor behind Derek. 'Nobody needs to be killed today.'

Derek frowned. 'Hmm, let me think about that. It sure sounds tempting you know, but you see, you're wrong about one thing. It's just a little bit wrong though…' He pressed the gun even harder into Mac's face to emphasize what he just said. '… I got orders to kill AT LEAST two people.' His smiled turned into a evil grin.

The only thing that was printed on Stella's retina was the sight of the lifeless figure in the hands of this monster. _Had Mac given up? No, he never gives up!_ Inwardly, she was screaming with joy for the fact that Mac was still alive, and fear forjust how much longer he was going to remain that way. They both say the same thing but it just helps the flow of the sentence. She needed to do something before it was too late and it sounded like this conversation wasn't going to be a fast one. She took a deep breath and took a small step forward as she spoke.

'I figured you as a guy who wouldn't take orders from anyone.' Her statement brought the criminal slightly out of balance so he didn't notice her step forward, his eyes still focused on Danny. Stella took advantage of the situation and resumed.

'You have to admit, the guy who put you in this position must be a real bastard. You are the one to blame for everything you do here, no matter what your orders are. If you choose to follow your orders, there's a big chance you're going to end up dead too. But if you take control in your own hands and choose otherwise, then there is pretty good chance you'll come out of this alive.'

Stella had managed to narrow the space between her and the gun man till she was about ten feet away from him. She let her eyes slide from him to Adam to Mac and back to him. Adam was pretty shaken up but kept himself quite good for his 'ragging' into the rough business. Mac on the other hand… She focused on the guy in the middle again. Flack, Danny, Lindsay and Hawkes remained silent, ready to attack when it was necessary.

Her words were filled with truths he couldn't turn away from. While he looked in her eyes he became even more desperate. He was fighting a battle that was not his own. Why he was the one who had to deal with this shit, there were more than enough other members who were more experienced with this than he was. Why did Sonny pick him? Wait, why was he questioning the boss's motives? What is this woman doing?

He made a hard face again and got his attention back into the room. Only then he noticed the closing difference between himself and the woman.

'Back off, lady! I'm not kidding here; I will rip his head off his body with pleasure!'

'No.' Silence filled the room, shocked people were looking in Stella's direction.

'Stel…' Lindsay tried, but was interrupted by Stella herself. 'No, I'm not backing off. I'm staying with Mac.' Confidence was mixed with fear. She had left him too many times. Not this time. She didn't care if it would be the last choice she'd ever make. Mac had to know how she felt and therefore he needed to stay alive. Confidence won. 'I'm staying right where I am.'

'Don't do anything stupid now, Stel', Hawkes tried out of desperation. 'Think! Keep focused!' He almost yelled it.

'I am focused, Sheldon.' Stella kept her eyes locked into Derek's. She dared him even more by taking another step, a big one this time. 'Let him go.' The words came out calmer then she thought they would.

'I guess you made your choice, lady. Say goodbye to Romeo, your great detective.' Derek challenged Stella and embraced the trigger with his index finger and pushed a little. Unfortunately, Stella didn't back off and pointed the barrel of her gun right to the chest of the kidnapper.

'I made my choice, now it's your turn. You wanna be someone's puppet and become a corpse or you wanna be a big boy and make your own decision to surrender?'

Derek almost exploded. 'I'm not someone's puppet and I am my own man! Sonny would never make me the boss if I wasn't a capable, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, no one stopped me in the past and no one will stop me now! Not even cops like you! I freakin' HATE cops like you! Why did you need to get involved with our lives anyway?! You always interfere with our business, with your freaky science stuff you ruin everything. You are totally freakin' CRAZY! And now you pushed too far, bitch! You just killed your darling boss!'

But then Flack laid down his trump.

'Sonny is dead, Derek. He killed himself in jail.'

Derek looked in the direction where the words came from, eyes widening in shock. Everything froze, the words lingering in his mind. _Dead. _Floating away from reality, his fingers loosened. The gun drooped down slightly, not aiming at Mac anymore.

Two shots were fired. Smoke came from both Stella's and Flacks gun. Bewildered, Derek looked down to where the bullets ran through his body. Flack had aimed at his shoulder which hand handled the gun, just like he had been taught. Stella's bullet on the other hand, had made a hole in his sternum. His hand around Macs skull fell and the seemingly lifeless detective dropped to the floor. Derek first looked at Flack who said the deathly words only seconds ago, second he turned to Stella. He opened his mouth.

'Bbb..bbb…bitch!' He felt backwards to the floor, letting out his final breath.

Total silence. No more pain. Only darkness surrounded him. For years he hadn't been able to imagine what a world without pain and grief looked like and here it was, welcoming him. With wide eyes he floated through the thousand colors of black, some intense black, some with a shade of grey. All the blood seemed returned into his body, his face was a full blown replica of the only picture he had of himself when he was 20 years old. Thick curls on top of his head, the bags under his eyes gone along with the few wrinkles he had accumulated over the years. The darkness softly brushed his cheeks, his hair, his arms, his belly. The darkness caresses his lips whom weren't cleft of dryness anymore. He turned and turned and turned, upside down, from left to right. Freedom without any boundaries. No worries. A smile began to appear on his face. An echo resounded in his ears, first a whisper… 'Mac..' The whisper became louder, he could hear it calling his name from a thousand directions. 'Mac.. Mac.. Mac..' The sound turned into a scream and another one and another one. Frightened, he looked around but couldn't find the source of the many voices in the dark, no matter how hard he tried. A twinge of pain occurred in his leg. He tried to grab it with his hands, but they hung numbly at his sides. Another twinge, then and another one. Not only his was leg being attacked. Within seconds his whole body was screaming in pain. Streams of blood seeped out of the injuries covering his skin. Another scream. A slap on his face and all of a sudden a sparkling light appeared in front of him, getting larger and brighter till his eyes couldn't handle the light anymore. Another slap on his face and the darkness was gone.

The reality catches quickly on the people in the room again. With one big slide, Stella drops herself down next to the lifeless figure in front of her. Within a second, Flack and Hawkes are by her side and helping their friend in a more comfortable position. They put his head into Stella's lap. Flack knelt down so his ear was only an inch away from Mac's mouth, Hawkes grabbed Mac's wrist to feel for a pulse. Both men almost jump in the air.

'He is still breathing!' 'He still has a pulse!' They say in almost unison. Stella lets her right hand slide along Mac's face and body before her thumb moves over his lips. She starts calling his name. It doesn't provoke a reaction from him. Soon they are all calling his name. But his body still lay numbly in Stella's lap. Suddenly, a scream came from the back of the room. Adam, who has been freed from his cuffs by Danny, stumbles to get up only to drop down next to Mac again. With much more force than he planned, he slapped his boss' face with a flat hand while screaming his name almost hysterically.

Because nobody stopped him, he continued. After the second hit, Stella screamed almost as hard as Adam: 'He moved! He moved!' They all unconsciously stopped breathing while they were watching their boss and friend struggle back to the land of the living again. Through eyes filled with tears, Stella saw the love of her life trying to open his eyes, but he wasn't able. A soft groan escaped his lips. Flack unclipped his walky-talky and screamed into the microphone: 'We need medical help here! Detective Taylor is still alive! Get the paramedics immediately, the area is clear! NOW!' When he turned back to his friends and colleagues, he couldn't deny the lump forming in his throat. Stella and Lindsay were both crying on the left side of Mac, Adam and Danny were clinging onto each other while tears were forming in their eyes as Hawkes tried desperately to feel for Mac's pulse again. Running paramedics wheeling a gurney pushed Flack aside so they could get to Mac. Flack heard them calling out medical statistics while slowly laying Mac down on the gurney. One paramedic was busy trying to free Mac's hand from Stella's which wasn't an easy task. Stella screamed that she wouldn't let him go. With some help from Lindsay they succeeded. The medics rushed past Flack again on their way out, still calling out Mac's stats and checking his visible injuries.

Silence filled the room again, nobody was able to speak. Sobs from Stella and Lindsay were heard from time to time. Hawkes was looking after Lindsay. Flack walked towards Stella and grabbed her head in his hands. Stella willingly let herself be held against him, not trying to stop her tears from falling down. Flack heard her mumble into his bulletproof vest. 'He can't die. I won't survive it if he dies. He can't die on me now.' He wanted to say so badly that it was all going to be okay, but he couldn't get the lump out of his throat. He couldn't say what he didn't believe. He saw Mac, he saw him lying there, no life left. _How could someone possibly come back from this?_ Flack could only hold Stella tight to him.

Six people stood in a room without any daylight, all with different thoughts but the subject was the same:

Detective Mac Taylor.

Nobody heard other paramedics enter the room until they knelt down next to the lifeless body of Derek. Because nobody cared about the life of this bastard now, the team didn't hear the medics scream for another stretcher.

Hawkes, who was relieved by Danny to take care of Lindsay, watched the paramedics hook the criminal up to an monitor. Only then did the news register in his mind. The guy was still alive! Just as he went to inform the others, a cop came towards them.

The cop cleared his throat. Six heads turned towards him.

'What is it?' Danny could manage to get out.

'When I arrived outside, I saw the ambulance where doctors were loading someone into. I got a better look and I saw it was Detective Taylor. When I came close, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me.' The cop looked still a little shocked from the event.

'Oh my god! Did he say something?' Stella's hope grew a little bit when she heard this news.

'Yeah, that's why I came to you guys. Does the name Nick mean anything to you?'

'The kid! It's the kid!' Flack turned towards the others. 'We totally forgot about him. We need to find him before it's too late.' Flack looked deep into Stella's eyes. 'It's what he wants us to do now, Stella. It's not like we can do anything else.' Stella looked up and nodded slightly.

'You go and find that boy, I'm going to the hospital. I'll keep you posted.' She headed towards the exit.

'Stella, wait!' Lindsay caught the other woman up in her steps. 'I'm going with you.' With one last glance to her boyfriend, she left together with Stella.

Everyone pulled themselves together, ready for the next journey.


	15. Chapter 14: All we have now, silence

Chapter Fourteen: All we have now, silence

Chapter Fourteen: All we have now, silence

It had been a silent and painfully long ride so far. Stella was driving as fast as she could, scolding and cursing at every car that drove too slow and every traffic light that stayed red for too long. Lindsay looked at her with sympathy but didn't have enough strength to say something about it or calm her down a bit. Hell, she would probably be doing the same if she had been driving. She turned towards the window and watched the world flow by at immense speed, she couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of Danny being kidnapped instead of Mac. What she would have done if she had found her beloved one lying on the floor, chained to the wall and almost beaten to death… or totally beaten to death. There was a real chance her boss wouldn't survive this. What if it had been Danny? She knew deep in her heart Danny would have been dead hours ago. The strength Mac had could not been compared to anyone's. Her world became hazy, white spots of tears slid past her eyes and her vision blurred. She felt like she was getting sick. Stella had turned the blue light on and was now racing with a deadly speed. Every bump in the road felt like they were jumping across the Grand Canyon. Together with the images of Mac in that cursed room, her thoughts about Mac and Danny and the fact that she hadn't eaten for more than a day made her stomach fill with bile. She looked in the glove compartment for anything that could be of use as a sick bag but found nothing. With a desperate move she pushed the button of the electrical window and hung her head out trying to lose the feeling of nausea. Luckily, Stella had noticed and slowed down to a more acceptable speed. The fresh air helped surprisingly and she felt the nausea subside. After inhaling the air from outside a couple of times more, she retracted her head again and closed the window leaving a small gap so they would be provided with fresh air. She rested the back of her head against the cool glass and turned her gaze towards the steering wheel and the one handling itWhen she looked at Stella, she saw that she_ had _given free rein to her tears.

'I'm sorry, I didn't notice that you…' Stella whispered in between sobs. Lindsay cut her off. 'Don't, Stel. It's okay, it just came up. Please, it's not your fault, it's all mine.' Fresh tears were rolling down Lindsay's cheeks too. 'It's not your fault either, sweetheart. It's all the fault of that Tanglewood gang I don't know what will happen when I see that bastard again, or when Mac… if Mac…' Stella's tears followed into each other with more speed. Lindsay squeezed Stella's thigh. 'Faith and hope is all we have now, let's keep those.' Stella nodded slightly. In silence they drove further.

Flack, Hawkes and Adam and Danny had split up and were now searching for the child. Adam had instinctively followed Danny. No way was he going to roam all alone in this building. Silence filled the space between them as they searched. Not that there was anything to say, or maybe there was just to much. After a couple of minutes, Danny finally broke the silence. 'Did they hurt you?' Danny's voice sounded hard and raw in the empty hallway they were in. It was apparent he was holding back one or two emotions.

Adam lifted his head in surprise and turned towards his best friend. Before giving an answer, he already stared down to the ground again. Fresh memories came boiling up. How they had hit him a couple of times in the car on the way here, how they dragged him along the alley and towards the room. He knew the truth wasn't something Danny needed right now.

'No.' Danny didn't seem to listen.

'I should have never give in to the damn plan, I should have never let them take you, I should have never agreed to let you go unguarded with a bunch of criminals, a bunch of animals. They could have easily killed you, they…'

'Danny..', Adam tried to interrupt him but Danny continued talking, almost as if he was talking to himself.

'… could have hurt you. Why didn't I think about all the possibilities! I should have been close to you the whole time, I should have known this was going to happen…'

_Is he talking about Mac? _Adam thought while studying his friend.

'Why didn't I say anything when I heard that voicemail? I knew it wasn't you! I knew it! Still I didn't say anything. You taught me so well, you rescued me from the fucked up guy I was becoming but I failed you completely. I was worthless back then and I'm still as worthless now! Nothing's changed, I'm not smarter than any of those guys. And now you're…'

'Danny!' Adam grabbed him by his arms and shook him a little to force him a to listen to him, but Danny protested hard and tried to free himself from the grip of his friend. Adam was indignant but didn't let go. He let Danny push and pull him and eventually Danny hit him on the chest. Suddenly then thrashing, pushing and pulling stopped. Adam felt the body he was holding curl up and sink to the ground. He let himself drop against the wall with Danny still held against him. He finally let go and Danny freed himself from the grip and let his back hit the wall so he was sitting next to Adam. Every bit of fear, anger and guilt came out now. Tears were forming in two pairs of eyes.

'If he doesn't survive this, Adam… if he just doesn't, I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't know what it's left to do.' Adam lay his hand on Danny's shoulder next to him. 'Faith and hope is all we have now, let's keep those.' In silence they sat.

Without thinking, Don rushed through the old building without slowing down for anything. Stairs to climb, walls to jump over, everything happened on auto-pilot. Anger, guilt and fear were written on his face. He was angry at the guys who had planned all this, angry at his colleagues who had kept them waiting so long but most of all he was angry at himself for not seeing through everyone and everything. If he had just picked up one little signal, then none of this would have happened. He was angry at himself for letting Mac drive to the hospital all on his own. The things he had been doing that day could have waited, _should_ have waited. Because Mac was a great cop and smart detective in his eyes, he figured he could let him go by himself. Mac always establish that self sufficient aura somehow. Why was the guy so freaking stubborn? If Mac had let him go with them , or just let him go instead of Mac, none of this would have happened. Or he would be in Mac's place instead of being on the sideline. He would have been struggling for air instead of Mac… Flack slowed his pace to catch his own breath which he only realized now he was holding. He rested his hands on his thighs while letting his head hang down a little. He felt the carbon dioxide make way for the welcome oxygen. The corners of this mouth twitched a little. _Working with lab nerds makes you think weird things, _he thought. The smile immediately disappeared again when fear boiled up. Fear of the life of the man he looked up to. The man everyone respected, no matter what they thought of him. If that man would die, would just leave this earth, nothing would ever be the same again. He knew he would never smile again. And all of this was his fault. He was taught to protect them! If Mac really died, it was all his fault. Flack pushed the awful thoughts out of his mind quickly and stretched himself. He felt how weak his body had become after all the days without sleep, but he couldn't give in. Not now. He needed to continue, he needed to for Mac, his friends, everyone. '_Faith and hope is all we have now, let's keep those.'_ Flack murmured to no one and continued his way in silence.

Stella almost parked the car inside the front door of the ER when they arrived there. Together with Lindsay she rushed to the counter. Stella showed the receptionist her badge.

'A detective just came in here.' The receptionist nodded. 'They brought him to ER 2, that way.' She pointed her fingers towards the hallway on her left. Stella walked in the direction the hand had indicated. Lindsay said a quick thanks to the receptionist and rushed after Stella. When they caught sight of ER 2, they walked towards it. Before they reached the doors, a doctor approached and gestured them to a halt.

'I'm Doctor Lohe, I'm working on Detective Taylor together with three other doctors. You two are colleagues of his, I presume?'

'He's the head of the NY Crime Lab, he's our boss.' Lindsay answered.

'How is he doing?' Stella asked the doctor while keeping her eyes on the ER door.

'I can't tell you that much about his status. He's been beaten up really badly, detectives.' He watched the women in front of him preparing themselves for the worst. The doctor continued with a calmer voice now. 'He suffered multiple blows to the head, abdomen and extremities. From what we saw on the MRI, he has at least 5 fractures in each arm and 2 in his left leg. The broken bones in his right arm are twisted so they can't heal on their own. With a surgery we will put the bones on their proper place again. We will do that when the time is ready. His right leg is severely bruised. At least 5 ribs are broken.' A silence followed.

After what seemed like an eternity, Stella turned her head towards the doctor. 'Tell us everything, tell us the truth.' Dr. Lohe considered his options and came to the conclusion that these detectives in front of him deserved the truth instead of calming words and half truths.

'Maybe we should sit down.' Stella and Lindsay did what they were told, knowing they would only hear the information that way. Dr. Lohe sat next to Stella, who now sat in the middle. Lindsay rested her eyes on the floor while Stella kept staring into the doctor's eyes, looking for a hint or emotion. Lohe took a deep breath and continued.

'Because of the long absence of medical help, some of the injuries cannot be repaired completely, such as the ruptures in his colon and spleen. Surgeons are removing his spleen at this moment, just like the small piece of his colon what has become necrotic. His lungs were filled with blood so we applied a drain to remove it slowly.'

For the second time in a short while, Lindsay's eyes were filling with tears again. With her head still fixed on the floor, she grabbed Stella's hand and squeezed hard. The latter returned the squeeze.

'Unfortunately, that's not all. A scan of his head is also made. That one showed multiple little tears at different places of his brain, some bleedings into his brain. Because of the risk of death because of the internal bleeding we had no choice but to operate on him. The surgery will make his condition more unstable which could make the bleeding worse. Together with the severe dehydration and acidosis as a result of the long period with lack of fluid and food, we don't know what will happen next. He could come out of all this just as he was before the kidnapping, but he could just as easily loose a great deal of brain function. Or all of it. We don't know which one of theses things may happen. It could happen in a couple of hours or even in a couple of weeks. Maybe it's best if you call the other detectives or any relatives of Detective Taylor and tell them to come as soon as possible.'

Both women had known this was coming and were prepared for it, but still it felt is if they had been struck by lightning. The doctor rested a hand on Stella's shoulder. 'I will leave you two alone for now, to let you process the news. I will return as soon as there is any new information about his condition and when you can see him.' Stella nodded and whispered a thanks as he stood up and walked away from them.

Stella took Lindsay in her arms and let the younger woman cry on her shoulder. No tears were formed in her eyes. She had to be strong for Mac for when he woke up. He needed her to see she was strong and that she still had faith. She widened the space between her and Lindsay again. 'I've got to call the others.' With that she stood up and walked towards the exit.

Hawkes hadn't stood still for a second from the moment he had split from the others. His medical and scientific head were driving him crazy, the image of Mac popping in his head time after time. Without doubt his boss had a lot of broken bones and internal injuries. He was probably severely dehydrated and his whole body had a dangerously low pH and he was sure Mac had some internal bleeding. Mac would, he could survive all of that if his brain was still intact. But the chance of that happening was pretty small, Hawkes calculated. All kinds of situations and diagnosis were spinning in his mind. If only he could make them stop. He stopped walking and put both his hands on his head. A severe headache had formed and the thoughts weren't exactly helping it go away. A small groan escaped his lips. Or did someone else make that noise?! With all the force he had left, he pushed everything out of his head on concentrated on sounds around him. Another groan, definitely not his own now. He moved towards the direction the noise had come from. Another sound came out of the darkness of the warehouse, followed by soft cries. When he rounded the corner, he saw Nick sitting on the floor in front of him, looking scared. With one move, Hawkes had lowered himself to the ground and took the frightened child's face into his hands.

'It's okay, Nick, I'm a detective from the crime lab.' The boy didn't seem convinced and continued crying. Hawkes moved a little closer. 'I'm a friend of Mac's.' Those words worked on Nick. Suddenly Hawkes had Nick's complete attention.

'Mister Mac! They hurt mister Mac! They killed him, detective! It's my fault…' Hawkes smiled at the innocence of this little kid.

'It's not your fault, Nick, don't you think that. And Mac is not dead (he wisely kept the 'yet' out of it, for both their sakes). Let's go and see him okay?' The little boy nodded slightly and wiped his tears and his nose with the sleeve of his sweater.

'Did they hurt you? Do you hurt anywhere?' Hawkes asked, examining the boy the best he could. Nick shook his head. 'Good, let's go then.' Hawkes picked Nick up and turned, heading back the way he'd came while he informed the other's via his walky-talky that he had found the missing child and was coming back. It only took a couple of seconds before Nick fell asleep on Hawkes' shoulder.

When he arrived ten minutes later, he saw the sadness in the eyes of Flack, Adam and Danny. He turned his head towards Danny.

'Any news yet?' Danny nodded. 'Stella just called. Mac has several severe fractures and he's bleeding into his brain. They don't know what will happen. She said we had to come to the hospital as soon as we had the kid.' Hawkes swallowed after he heard this news. He knew it. If this really was the case, they could easily lose their boss in a matter of minutes or hours. They had to hurry.

'Let's go then. Nick here is fine.'

Four men and one child walked towards the car and drove to the hospital in silence, preparing themselves for what could be the last moment with their friend…


	16. Chapter 15: To You, My Friend

Chapter Fifteen: To you, my Friend

**Finally, an update! ****It took me a while, and I apologize for that. It had been a busy time. I hope you all enjoy this chapter again :) **

Chapter Fifteen: To you, my Friend

Nobody needed to say a word. Six figures were sitting next to each other in an overexposed waiting room of a hospital that nobody wished to be so busy at this hour. In all those hours of waiting, many emergencies had rushed by them. Still, nobody said a word. From time to time, one of the figures moved to buy coffee or food for them all. Everyone ate and drank in silence, all lost in their own thoughts. Nick hadn't left Hawkes' side and between his sobs, he slept for most of the time. Hawkes couldn't care less; the warmth of the child in his arms was a welcome distraction. The time passed as if seconds were minutes and minutes were hours. Exhaustion was overwhelming all of them, but still no one left. For the man in the operating room fighting for his life they would have endured a thousand times more, every one of them felt the same way. Mac was meant a lot to them, for some even everything. The department could never have a better supervisor than Mac Taylor, murder victims could not have a better CSI than him, colleagues could not have a better friend than him.

It didn't matter anymore why he was fighting for his life, why there was even one person who could have inflicted these terrible injuries on him. It all didn't matter anymore why he is smart, handsome, funny, and heroic and the best at what he does. Only one thing mattered now: Mac surviving. Everything else would come later. But that didn't matter. He had to survive. And the team was going to help him with that, no matter what they had to do. He needed them, that's why they were all staying and no other reason than that.

After almost five hours, all of them stood up in unison when Dr. Lohe came towards them. No one dared to ask the one question that held a life in the balance, so a silence followed. Eyes were open wide, hands left and right were grabbed in their own, no air was breathed in. They were ready for the news, for good or for bad. Finally the doctor in front of them spoke.

'Detective Taylor is out of surgery and stable.' One big collective sigh was heard. 'You can see him, but the more rest he gets the better the chance he has of surviving all of this. So I would suggest you all go in for 5 minutes, one at a time. He's in the ICU.' The nod was in unison, again. Right before Dr. Lohe turned away again, Stella approached him.

'Is he.. can he… is there a chance he can hear us?' Stella stuttered a little.

The doctor shrugged. 'To be honest with you, I have no idea. We have never seen this degree of injury before, let alone someone surviving so far in his condition. But you can try, of course.' With a smile, he left.

Stella turned around and watched the group in front of her: Danny holding Lindsay who was shivering a little, Adam looking to the floor not sure what to do or feel, Hawkes soothing Nick and Flack directly looking into her eyes. The latter took her hands in his. 'You go first.' He saw the worried look in her eyes, the exhausted body pose. The sight of Mac alone in that room maybe could be the last thing that would finally break her. Maybe he needed her. 'You want me to go with you?'

Stella forced a little smile. 'Thanks, but no. I want to be alone with him.' With that, she walked off in the direction of the ICU.

--

Lines of a song she heard on the radio days ago floated into Stella's mind as she stood in the elevator.

_Couldn't save you from the start  
Love you so it hurts my soul  
Can you forgive me for trying again?  
Your silence makes me hold my breath  
All the time has passed you by_

She pushed the song quickly out of her mind.

Even with preparing herself, the shock of seeking Mac lying in the small bed, hooked up to dozens of machines in the ICU, was overwhelming. She folded her hands in front of her mouth, unsuccessfully trying to hold back her tears. When the initial shock subsided, she almost stumbled to the side of the bed. Her hands moved down to where his hand was and covered his free fingers and palm with hers. She placed a gentle kiss on his hand.

'Oh Mac…' She let out a sob. A single tear escaped her eyes. 'How could this have happened.., it can't be true you can't be lying here. It must all be one big horrible nightmare and when I wake up, when we both wake up, you are going to be just fine and I'm finally going to say that...' Her voice juddered. One hand approached Mac's face and gently stroked his skin avoiding the scratches and cuts which all but covered his face. 'It isn't a nightmare, is it? It's all real, you are really here.' Stella stood up and cupped his face in both her hands. His eyes were closed but still she looked directly into his eyes.

_His green eyes, sparkling and small, were looking directly into hers. He asked her out for dinner that afternoon. 'Just as friends' he had said. She __had always thought he had never noticed her disappointed reaction. They were sitting in a pretty expensive restaurant somewhere nearby her apartment. She hadn't seen him so happy and content in a long time and to be honest, she hadn't been either. 'You look so beautiful tonight, Stel. Beautiful, smart, funny, extraordinary, supportive. I wouldn't know what I would do if you weren't in my life. Thank you for everything you've done.' His hand moved forward and touched hers. First she was stunned, then she let go of her cutlery and grabbed his hand. She felt him squeezing hers tightly. Perfect fit, she thought. 'You know I would do anything for you, right?' She nodded. 'I can only help you when you tell me what's wrong.' Startled she pulled her hand out of his. 'There's nothing' she said. She was lying and she felt he knew that too. But he just answered with a slight nod and continued eating like nothing had happened. She knew he was talking about Frankie then. Maybe if she had told him, he could have helped or protected her from that sick bastard. Maybe she wouldn't have killed him. But she hadn't said anything, and after all happened, they never spoke of it again._

Her mind snapped back to reality. She wanted to talk about that moment at the restaurant again. She wanted to say what she really thought, that she regretted her answer, regretted that she let his hand go. Oh, how she wished that he would squeeze her hand again, just like he had done then. But nothing happened, he was just lying as still as he had been when she had first walked in. It reminded her that the others were waiting to see him. She stroked her thumbs, gently across his eyelids, up towards his hairline. She bowed down and spoke into his ear.

'I love you, detective Mac Taylor. Give me one chance to say it to you, one chance to see your reaction. I want to see your smile again, the way your frown when you're thinking, any expression at all. Only you can give me that chance. You would do anything for me, right? Get better, you hear me. That's the only thing I ask of you. Just get better.' With a teary face she placed a kiss on his cheek and abruptly turned around and left the room, unable to bear the sight of him like this any longer.

When Stella was back downstairs again, she approached her colleagues and friends. 'The next one can go in now.'

Danny and Lindsay stepped forward. 'Could we go together? Do you think he…' Danny stuttered slightly.

Stella wanted to grab his arm and reassure him it was going to be alright, but halfway towards him she pulled her hand back. She didn't want to touch anybody; she wanted to hold the feeling of Mac in her hands. She looked in Danny's eyes instead. 'He's not awake, he didn't react to my words. I guess it wouldn't hurt him..if you went in together.' Sad eyes looked towards her. 'I'm going to get some fresh air.' With that she walked towards the exit doors.

Danny and Lindsay walked towards the ICU, hand in hand. Immediately when they saw their boss, their friend, they fell into each other's arms. Lindsay cried out loud, but Danny couldn't get his eyes of his lifeless friend who couldn't even breathe on his own. _He wouldn't have cried. _He let go of his now-girlfriend and stood at the bedside. His hands grabbed the cold steel as hard as possible, his knuckles white. He bowed his head and pressed his eyes closed as hard as he could, not sure what to do next. He didn't hear Lindsay approaching the other side of the bed.

' He's so quiet. He looks so frightened, so worried. What if he feels the pain?' Her eyes watched Mac almost expressionlessly.

'I don't know, Linds, I don't know. I don't want to know. Just…just… don't say anything, please. I..I..can't.' She only nodded and they were silent as the minutes passed. Danny looked up and pushed his glassed up onto his nose again. He placed his hand on Mac's arm and tried to look at his face, but failed. He could only get out a whispered 'get better' and left the room, his eyes finally filled with the poisoned salty liquid.

Lindsay placed a kiss on Mac's forehead. 'You need to live, you are the only one who can get through to him. So just get better okay, please.' With that, she walked after Danny and out of the room.

Flack was the next to enter, he was shocked at the sight before him as he stepped into the room. He straightened himself and walked with firm steps towards the brave detective. He recalled the time when he had been the one lying in this bed, only now he was in Mac's place. He was the one standing watch, now he was the one to squeeze an unresponsive hand. Now he was the one who prayed, the one who felt guilty, the one to think the unwanted thoughts. For the whole 5 minutes, he did nothing but squeezing Mac's hand saying silent prayers without even believing in God. When he opened his eyes again, only then did he register how terrible the figure in front of him looked. _Almost like he's already dead._ He shook his head hard to push the sentence out of his head. With frustration and horror he felt himself losing control and slowly sinking to the ground. He felt a hand on his back. With shock he looked up, only to find Adam standing over him with eyes full of tears. The lab-tech helped him on his feet again.

'I..I..' Flack didn't know what to say.

'It's okay.' Adam couldn't manage to get more out. His eyes filled themselves with tears over and over again, every time he looked towards his beloved boss. After another five minutes, they slowly walked out of the room without saying a word.

Only Hawkes and Nick were left to see Mac. Hawkes had pulled Nick up so the child could sit next to Mac's legs on the bed. Surprisingly, Nick began talking to Mac about everything and nothing. About his adventures with his mom, what she had done with Halloween, what she had cooked the day before she was murdered. Hawkes could only smile at the sight in front of him. He watched the kid softly tickle Mac's leg, fiddling with Mac's fingers, twiddling with the thin sheet that covered his boss till he reached his chest. When he began to touch the tube that came out of Mac's chest, Hawkes gently pulled him up again.

'It's better if you don't do that.' Nick looked at him, puzzled.

'Why? I not need tube, you not need tube, why Mister Mac?'

The innocent look the child gave him made the CSI swallow hard. With the gentlest face he could manage to make he answered. 'Because there is water and blood in his lungs and he can't breathe normally. That's why there is another tube in his mouth.'

Nick still looked confused. 'Why he make beeps?'

Hawkes slightly grinned. 'No, the machines make sounds to check everything like his heart and his lungs. They will make a strange sound when something happens, or show something different.

Nicks little finger pointed towards the ECG-machine. 'Like that?'

Hawkes followed the finger of the child and opened his eyes widened. He let go of Nick and grabbed the machine with both his hands. His heart almost stopped.

Mac's heart was showing atrium fibrillation. _Does that mean…?_ With two big strides, Hawkes was at the door and screamed at the top of his lungs. 'Doctor! Nurse!! I need help! HELP!'

Within seconds, a doctor and two nurses pushed him aside and rushed towards the bed. In the meantime, Nick had sneaked out of the room and ran downstairs towards the others. They all turned around when the shy boy screamed like never before.

'Mister Mac!' The hospital almost shook as the four grown-ups ran upstairs towards Mac's room. When they arrived, they saw Hawkes standing outside the ICU. The latter watched horrified through the glass of the window.

'He flatlined.' With shock, all the CSI's and Flack turned their heads towards the bed. More doctors and nurses were next to the bed now. They could hear them scream. '300, charge! Still nothing. 360, charge! Again!' They would repeat those sentences over and over again within the next three minutes.

A beep. And another one. And the final words. 'Sinus rhythm. He's back again.'

In a blur, the others saw Stella enter the room and run towards Mac grabbing his hand in hers, crying and screaming his name. But then she became quiet.

She turned around, a sparkle in her eyes.

'He squeezed back.'

**You remembered me loving cliffhangers, right? ;) **


	17. Chapter 16: Ready For You

**I am tremendously sorry about the amount of time between my last chapter and this update. This will be the last but one chapter of this story. I will also update my House fic and currently I am writing a short fic about a great show I discovered: LIFE, airing on Friday nights on NBC. If you are interested in this show, please consider watching it because it could surely use some more viewers! Don't think that the lesser viewers a show gets, the less original and fun it is because LIFE is just amazing. I will probably post my fic about LIFE this evening or sometime tomorrow. Of course I would be enlighted if you took the time to read it :)**

**Unfortunately, this chapter hasn't been Beta-ed, and since my mother tongue isn't English or American there might be some misspelling. Feel free to comment me about those errors, because I will only learn from it! Also, I am still very fond of reviews so please don't back down and tell me what you think :)**

**This all said and done, please enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Ready for you

It felt like a miracle. No, a miracle wouldn't even subscribe this feeling. When his cold and heavy, but strong fingers squeezed hers a little, she felt life streaming into her arm towards her whole body, like a sparkle in a moment of desperateness. Life that needed so desperately to live. In that one little squeeze, she could feel his attempt to come back to her and his team, the pain and memories he was trapped in, the loneliness he felt. Inwardly Stella smiled. She knew him so well that she could predict every feeling of him with just one little squeeze. Unfortunately, the smile disappeared as quickly as it came. Further attempts to get the same result failed. The doctor checked Mac's status but didn't come up with something. Mac's condition hadn't changed since the moment they brought him here on the ICU. In the meantime, the team had gathered themselves around Mac. Flack put a hand on Stella's shoulder and loosened it a little. He whispered softly to her.

'Are you sure, Stel? Wasn't it just an imagination? It happens sometimes, you know that.' Stella didn't answer put stared apathetically to the hand she still held. She squeezed and squeezed, but finally stopped and let go.

'I know what I felt, Don. It was him. He's still there, I could feel it.' She directed her watery eyes to the one she was speaking to. The latter looked at her with compassion.

'Come, let's get you something to eat.' Flack spoke to the whole team now. 'And we all need sleep too. We can't be there for him with sleep following us every step. He would have to think of a different reprimand for every one of us.' Agreeing and tired smiles appeared on the faces of the overtired CSI's in the room.

'I'm in for a beer. I'm going to Sullivan's for a nightcap.' Danny looked hopeful into the direction of his best friend Donald. Last mentioned slowly nodded. He escorted Stella out of the room and towards the cars just next to the hospital. When he opened the car door for her, she shook her head slightly.

'I don't want to go home but stay close to him. I'm just going to walk a little around the block here.' Flack tried one last time. 'But you can't see him every minute, the doctors told us it's better if he's been left alone for a while.'

'I know, but I'm not going to leave him. It's okay, Don.' She touched his cheek with her soft hand. 'Thank you so much for everything you've done. I know I wouldn't have made it till now if you weren't here next to me.' Flack closed his eyes for a moment and laid his hand over hers. 'I'll always be there for you, Stel. Always.' He closed her in for a hug and kissed her hair softly. They pulled apart and held their hands for a little while longer till Stella let go and took a step back. 'Go and get your beer and some sleep. I'm counting on you tomorrow.' They all stepped in their cars, heading to their drinks or their beds.

'Promise me to eat something decent okay. I don't want to pick you up from the floor when we're back.' Stella nodded at Flack's comment. 'I promise.' With that, they drove away.

Sheldon brought Lindsay back to her apartment and made sure she was lying in her bed asleep. He headed to his own home next to wander into a sleep in a chair full of nightmares. He wasn't even able to get his clothes of or to reach his bedroom. It would be a long night. He laid Nick on the couch, he had fallen asleep when his head touched the rest.

Danny, Flack and Adam were all in for a beer and drove towards Sullivan's. They ordered a beer and sat down at their favorite table near the window. When they enjoyed their drinks for a moment, Danny began to speak.

'Do you really think Stella felt him?' he asked to none of the two in particular. Both men were quiet at first. 'I don't know.' That was all Don could manage to get out. Adam hadn't say much after the incident or on their way here. He stared blankly out of the window, into the pouring rain and the activity on the street. Danny tapped his shoulder once. 'Ad, are you okay?' Adam didn't move or react at first, but Danny saw him trying to prevent a tear falling down.

'When they brought me there, I was so worried, I was so afraid they would actually kill me. Even my father never made me that scared I was in that car heading to that bunker.' The other two men swallowed a lump.

'Because of the bag I couldn't see anything but some of the ground underneath me. I stared down the whole time, afraid that one piece of light would go away too. I heard them talking in the front seats but couldn't make out what the subject was. Probably how they were going to kill me, or how pleased their boss would be if they saw me. I thought I was passing out of fear when we finally stopped and they pulled me out of the car and towards that… room.' Adam took a sip of his beer and stared into his glass when he continued.

'But when they pulled that bag off of me and I saw Mac… His body looked so dead to me, but his eyes were alive and staring at me with such an intense force.. just like he was trying to give his last bit of strength to me. He must have felt he was dying and still, he thought about me, he was trying so desperately to calm me. The next moment I saw guilt coming up. If I just.. if I had been strong enough I could have freed myself and save him. But I was scared. I didn't move, I was only thinking about my own life. If I just..'

Danny laid a hand on Adam's shoulder. 'Adam, look at me.' The lab-tech looked up. 'Nothing was your fault, no one could do anything about all of this. We can't think we could save him. Only the thoughts will kill us all. We all feel guilty but we didn't kidnap him. It's not our fault. And you were the bravest of us all. You would have offered your own life for him. We can only thank you.' The speech made all three men quiet. Adam kept staring in Danny's eyes, trying to find something untrue, but he found none. He was telling the truth. 'Thanks.' Adam bowed his head again and turned his gaze towards his beer. The other two followed his action and continued to think their own thoughts.

Stella made only a quick round and returned towards the hospital as soon as she could. She couldn't stop thinking about that one squeeze. She was so certain he had really done it and she wanted so desperately for him to do it again.

With some sweet words she convinced the nurse of the night shift at the ICU that she could sit next to Mac. She took a chair and settled in, his hand safely into hers. Flack was right, she was as tired as hell. Even though she wanted to stay awake, she couldn't fight the sleep anymore. After a few attempts to open her eyes again, she slowly felt her head falling down on the soft cotton sheets next to her hand and his.

She must have been asleep for a while now, because she felt a hand on her shoulder. A nurse was probably trying to wake her up so she could check his vitals or to send her away. She slowly opened her tired eyes and looked up, predicting a nurse or doctor standing over her. When she found no one near her, she rose up, stretched her sore back from the uncomfortable position she had fallen asleep in, and looked around trying to find the person the hand belonged to. But she was alone in the ICU. No nurses, no doctors, nobody except for her and… Her eyes grew wide and she abruptly turned her head towards the one in the bed she was resting on, only to see two little green eyes looking directly at her.

'Mac?! Mac?! Maaaaac?!' She didn't hear anything but still saw the eyes looking at her. _Was she dreaming this? _She looked down at his hand and saw it trying to grab hers, but he couldn't reach it. She laid her hand in his while tears were rolling down her cheeks freely. She turned her head back and looked at him again. 'Mac, say something! Tell me I'm crazy! Say anything!' His eyes still looked at her, but no sound came out of his mouth. Only then she realized he wasn't even able to speak; he was intubated! She pushed the emergency button. Within seconds a nurse came running towards them.

'He's alive, he has his eyes open. Look!' The nurse looked from Mac to Stella to Mac again with open mouth and a little in shock. She quickly recovered and rushed back to get a doctor. She came back after 2 minutes with Dr. Lohe.

'Detective Bonasera, what's the matter?' Lohe approached her and looked towards his patient. 'He opened his eyes and laid his hand into mine.' She told him with a trembling voice. The doctor nodded and shone a light into Mac's eyes and did some other things Stella couldn't directly understand.

'I guess a miracle just happened. Detective Taylor is awake.' Stella brought her hands towards her mouth of disbelief and began crying again. Then they heard a rough sound. Mac was fighting against the tube shoved into his mouth. He was breathing on his own again. Carefully, dr. Lohe removed the tape that held the tube along with the tube itself. Mac tried to cough but failed, almost suffocating on his own saliva. Dr. Lohe checked Mac's vitals again, mostly out of amazement of the miracle happening in front of him.

'Detective Taylor, can you hear me? Don't move, just blink once when you can.' With shock, Stella, the doctor and the nurse witnessed a blink. 'Can you remembered what happened to you? Blink once for yes, twice for no.' One blink followed. 'You suffered great injuries from the kidnapping, you may be breathing on your own now, but you're still in critical condition. We have to make a scan of your brain again, you may still be bleeding into your brain. Do you understand?' Mac blinked once. 'Okay, I will leave you two alone then for a while. I'll check back later, okay?' With that, he left the room.

Stella had witnessed the whole situation with happiness as well as unbelief and fear. There is still a big chance he won't recover and he will not be the same again. She sat down on the bed and reached towards his hand again, with the other touching his face.

'Oh Mac, I missed you so much.' A soft groan escaped his lips, but he couldn't get out a sound. Instead, his eyes filled with pain and fear when he felt his throat was collapsing again.

'Calm down, Mac. Calm down. Look at me! Try to breath okay, slowly. Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. Yeah that's it. You can do it.' Finally, Mac breath normally again and the fear left his eyes. The pain stayed, and would probably stay for a very long time, he presumed. He tried to look around and see where exactly he was lying, he recognized the ICU from the several times they had to go here when a victim had survived a murder attempt. The fear came back again when he noticed he couldn't remember the victims anymore, just the room. Stella noticed the shock and remembered the doctor saying he could have brain damage and possible memory loss too. Even if he did remember the whole kidnap, it wasn't certain he could remember anything from before that. It had only been a couple of days of course.

'The doctor told us you could have some memory loss. It's okay, it can come back you know.' The fear subsided a little but stayed on the background, while Mac tried to nod his head in understanding. 'I should call the others immediately, everyone has been so worried about you, Mac.' Stella looked away for a moment, hiding her tears. When she turned around, she saw something she had wished for all those days; Mac smiled a little. He opened his hand so she could lay hers in it. With his thumb he caressed over his soft skin and looked at her with intense force. He tried to say something but Stella wanted to prevent him for almost dying again. 'Don't Mac. It can't be worth your life what you have to say. It can wait till you're healed.' He still continued trying regardless of her words and blinked twice, hard. A groan came, but no words. 'Stop it Mac, stop it. I don't want to see you suffer.' But Mac forced himself again and again, breathing louder with each try. Finally, after several minutes, the words came out that were so worth all the tries.

'I…. lo… you.' Stella couldn't believe what she just heard. 'What? What did you say? Did you say.. I love you?' Mac eyes grew wide and he blinked once. Tears were rolling down Stella's cheeks for the uncountable time these couple of days, and she reached out to his face. Between her sobs she could manage to say the one thing she wanted to say since the moment she met him.

'I love you too, detective Mac Taylor. I've loved you since the moment I saw you for the first time, and I will never ever stop loving you. I love you.' With that, she bowed down slowly and brought her lips towards his'. She scared back when she felt the dryness of his lips and the rapid breaths she heard. But she saw him with the sparkles in his eyes, a smile on his face and he blinked once. With that, she pressed her lips against his' for the second time and gave him the most wonderful kiss he ever had in his life; the life he came back to.


	18. Chapter 17: The End

**Here it is… the end of my first story on fanfiction. I hope you all enjoyed reading this story with humorous but most of all dramatic moments. ****I want to thank all those thousands of readers who put some time in reading this story and reviewing it. My spare time is very little and I am also writing a story about House M.D. at the moment, but when people are in the mood for it please let me know and I maybe will continue this story with another one :) but first of all… enjoy and review!**

**Don't start reading this chapter before giving a loud applause to Fruitbat, she beta-ed most of the chapters and also supported me in giving me thoughts about the storylines and the details of it. Fruitbat, without you this story would have been a lot less entertaining and a lot more out of character and most of all… unreadable because of my imperfect English. Thank you very much.**

Chapter Seventeen: The End

The weeks came and went rapidly.

After Stella had informed the others about the change in Mac's condition, they all had come to the hospital within 30 minutes and were all so happy to see him that way. He was quickly moved to a normal room and that room soon filled itself with flowers and gifts and cards from everyone at the lab. Everyone had come to see him, most of them to tell him how brave he had been or how grateful they were that he was still alive.

No day went by without Stella by his side, and that made Mac happier than he could ever be. He recovered slowly; he had to learn to walk again and to use his arms and hands properly. He also had some problems with his memory, which sometimes brought up some funny situations with colleagues he couldn't remember.

His breathing was often irregular and his ribs didn't heal very fast, which slowed his recovery. Most of the day he was tired and therefore asleep. But he tried; he tried hard to get some sort of a normal life back again, to at least get out of this hospital and into his own home again.

The smile on his face came by more often, especially when he saw his team near him. His voice still remained a painful obstacle though; when he had woken up, he didn't care about his legs not able to move, his arms unbearable painful and non-usable, his memory full of holes… he just wished he could talk. He had always been a private man, he didn't need much words to explain the things he wanted or the things that needed to be done. But after all this.. after not been able to talk through the whole situation he went through.. things had changed. He wanted to talk so badly, talk about all the unnecessary things in the world. The main reason was his mind.. his mind drifted off to himself pinned against the wall again with a chain around his neck every second he didn't talk about something else. When he found out it was impossible to talk properly, he got frustrated every so often. He tried hard to talk again, he forced himself, almost tortured himself, but his voice never became normal again. He saw the looks in the eyes of every member of his team turned into sad ones when he spoke, his voice reminding them of the kidnapping, the fear they felt about him being dead, the uncertainty they had if they would ever find him, the anger towards the ones who had hurt him, the guilt of this all being their fault.. His voice tortured all of them at the same level as it did him. But he wasn't able to change it, he had to come to terms with the voice he had now, he had to make it his own even though it wasn't his voice at all. That would probably be the most difficult task of his whole recovery. But after a while, he got used to it. He got used to his permanently altered voice, the changing of it every couple of words. It all didn't bother him as much as it did in the beginning of his recovery. He finally realized that he was only glad he could even speak of his life in the present tense. If his luck had run out and he hadn't survived all of this then he wouldn't have been able to tell Stella she was the love of his life.

After almost six months, he was finally released from the hospital. Out of protocol he had to be driven to the exit doors in a wheelchair. When they made it to the doors, Dr. Lohe watched happily from behind the wheelchair as Mac stood up. The latter turned around and faced the doctor.

'Thank you for everything you've done, doctor. I will never forget it.' Mac felt a little embarrassed when his voice changed sound every couple of words, but Dr. Lohe pushed the wheelchair aside and embraced him.

'It was an honor to have you here in the hospital, detective, and to take care of yourself. I wish you every bit of luck and happiness in your life and I hope to see you another time somewhere out of this hospital, to grab a beer.'

Mac smiled at his words and returned the embrace. 'I will, doctor. Thank you again.' With that, Mac turned around and pushed the doors open and walked into the sunlight that could be so rare in New York. He closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet smell of the city he loved so much.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw his team gathered around him. 'Congratulations! You're back!' They said in unison. Mac smiled when one by one they came towards him and embraced him. Stella was the last, and to turn the world around, he walked towards her with an unsteady pace. He touched her face.

'I love you, Stella Bonasera.' He gave her a gentle kiss, which soon turned into a passionate one. They pulled apart when they heard the others applauding loudly and laughing at the same time. Red from embarrassment, they just smiled at each other as Mac got a couple of friendly pats on his back from the guys. Mac pulled Stella closer to him as they walked away from the hospital, out onto the streets and into a new life. As they made their way into Central Park, Mac couldn't control himself any longer.

'What would you think if I asked you to move into my house? To help me a little, but most of all, the warm me up when I'm in bed at night, or any other second of the day I'm missing you.' Stella turned her head towards her new boyfriend, grinning widely. Mac looked at her with a questioning look. 'What?' Stella kissed him again.

'I thought you'd never ask.'

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